|N  VERSIT     OF  CALIFORNIA   SAN  DIEG 


3  1822  019644442 

LABOR  MOVEMENT 
IN  JAPAN 

BY 
SENKATAYAMA 


^1822019644442 


Social  Sciences  &  Humanities  Library 

University  of  California,  San  Diego 
Please  Note:  This  item  is  subject  to  recall. 

Date  Due 


UCSDLt. 


THE 
LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 


FOR  THE  CAUSE  OF  SOCIALISM 

SEN    KATAYAMA 


LABOR  MO  YEMEN' 


IN  JAPAN 


BY 
SEN  KATAYAMA 


CHICAGO 

CHARLES  H.  KERR  &  COMPANY 
CO-OPERATIVE 


Copyright  1918 
BY  CHARLES  H.  KERB  &  COMPANY 


JOHN    F.    HIGGINS,    FRINTBB 
<^§S^*,.c 

370-3SO    WEST    won  HOE    *T 


PREFACE. 

This  little  book  is  the  first  attempt  to 
give  to  the  English  speaking  public  a  his- 
tory of  the  labor  and  socialist  movement 
in  Japan.  It  was  originally  intended  for 
the  Internationalist  Socialist  Review  dur- 
ing the  year  1917 ;  so  that  it  is  necessarily 
brief  and  incomplete  in  the  details  of  event? 
however  interesting ;  but  I  tried  to  present 
the  events  and  their  developments.  Bear- 
ing this  in  mind  the  reader  will  understand 
the  limits  of  this  book. 

Since  I  wrote  this,  many  things  have 
happened.  Our  working  classes  in  Japan 
have  lately  awakened.  This  fact  is  shown 
by  numerous  strikes  during  the  last  year. 
These  were  mainly  due  to  the  influence  of 
the  Russian  revolution  by  which  our  peo- 
ple, especially  the  working  classes,  were 
so  greatly  impressed  and  interested.  They 
were  also  due  to  the  rapid  growth  of 
Capitalism  and  its  enormous  profits  on  ac- 


O  PREFACE 

count  of  war  industry.  Almost  needless 
to  say  that  the  working  classes  did  not  get 
any  reasonable  increase  in  their  wages, 
while  the  prices  of  their  necessaries  were 
rising  by  leaps  and  bounds. 

Fearing  the  effect  of  these  changes  the 
ever  stronger  autocratic,  capitalistic  gov- 
ernment became  more  and  more  sensitive 
and  terror  stricken,  as  they  viewed  the  peo- 
ple becoming  enthused  by  the  Russian  revo- 
lution. The  government  has  become  late- 
ly still  more  oppressive  and  autocratic  in 
dealing  with  the  working  class  movement 
and  socialism,  the  leaders  being  effectively 
bound  and  gagged.  Even  the  Yu-Ai-Kai, 
the  yellowest  labor  movement  in  Japan, 
supported  by  philanthropic  capitalists  like 
Baron  Shibusawa,  is  controlled  by  the 
despots;  so  that  its  so-called  members,  or 
more  accurately  subscribers  to  its  organ, 
are  falling  away.  Nevertheless,  this  dark- 
est condition  strengthens  our  faith  in  the 
coming  social  revolution  in  Japan.  Never 
in  my  time  have  we  so  often  heard  the  cry 


PREFACE  7 

for  another  revolution  to  put  down  the 
present  bureaucratic  government  for  a  bet- 
ter and  democratic  form  of  government. 
The  living  fact  that  the  Eussian  revolution 
was  accomplished  by  the  joint  action  of  the 
workers  and  the  soldiers  is  the  great  reve- 
lation to  the  Japanese  who  are  oppressed 
under  militarism  and  conscription.  Above 
all  it  has  strengthened  tacitly  a  hope  for 
the  brighter  dawn  of  the  coming  social 
revolution.  To  counteract  and  crush  this 
hope  and  its  increase  the  terrified  militar- 
istic government  has  entered  upon  its  death 
struggle  and  is  making  prodigious  efforts, 
scrupulous  and  unscrupulous,  to  root  out 
the  socialist  propaganda.  But  there  is  lit- 
tle doubt  that  within  a  few  years  our  faith 
in  the  social  revolution  will  be  amply  re- 
warded. 

I  here  acknowledge  the  kindness,  help 
and  encouragement  given  me  in  writing 
this  document  by  comrades  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
S.  J.  Eutgers,  under  whose  generosity  and 
unbounded  hospitality  I  was  able  to  find 


8  PREFACE 

time  and  opportunities  for  gathering  and 
preparing  for  my  material.  I  also  acknowl- 
edge the  kindness  of  Mrs.  Mary  E.  Marcy 
who  read  the  manuscript  and,  corrected 
errors  in  English. 

SEN  KATAYAMA. 
New  York  City,  July  9,  1918. 


CONTENTS 


Introduction   11 

I.  Its  Background 29 

II.  A  Period  of  Success 47 

III.  Socialism  a  Popular  Topic 69 

IV.  The  Socialist  Movement  and  the 

Russo-Japanese  War 85 

V.  The  Socialist  Party  and  Its  Ac- 

tivities   100 

VI.  Suppression  and  Revolt  of  So- 

cialism in  Japan 124 

VII.  The  Marxian  Socialist  Group. .  .142 


INTRODUCTION. 

At  the  moment  when  reaction  is  ascend- 
ant in  Japan,  when  its  Imperialism  is 
aggressively  triumphant  and  its  proletariat 
apparently  crushed  and  silent,  at  this  mo- 
ment, more  than  any  other,  is  a  book  on 
the  Japanese  Labor  Movement  of  great 
value.  It  is  of  value  in  picturing  a  militant 
proletariat  in  action  and  by  emphasizing 
our  international  spirit  without  which 
Socialism  cannot  conquer. 

This  book,  appearing  at  this  particular 
time,  is,  moreover,  a  symbol  to  the  world 
of  Socialism  and  Revolution.  It  is  a  sym- 
bol of  the  great  role  that  the  Japanese 
proletariat  is  destined  to  play  in  the  days 
to  come;  it  is  even  more  a  symbol  of  the 
momentous  fact  washed  upon  the  shores  of 
Time  by  the  Great  War — that  Labor,  and 
Labor  alone,  in  spite  of  momentary  col- 
lapse and  a  swerving  from  its  historic 
mission,  is  the  force  that  must  preserve 
11 


12  INTRODUCTION 

civilization  from  total  ruin  by  creating  the 
new  civilization  of  Socialism. 

Japan  is  to-day  dominantly  reactionary. 
It  is  preparing  itself  to  extend  the  power 
and  influence  of  its  ruling  class.  As  a 
capitalist  nation,  Japan  is  part  and  parcel 
of  the  general  imperialistic  interests  and 
ambitions  that  plunged  the  world  into  dis- 
aster. And  in  Japan,  as  in  other  imperial- 
istic nations,  all  classes  are  reactionary,  all 
classes  are  eager  for  the  spoils  of  exploita- 
tion, all  classes  are  willing  to  sell  humanity 
and  civilization  for  the  mess  of  pottage  of 
imperialistic  aggrandizement.  All  classes, 
that  is  to  say,  except  the  proletariat,  which 
is  silent  under  the  oppression  of  a  male- 
volent tyranny,  but  which  has  within  itself 
the  latent  power  and  inspiration  for  great 
deeds,  as  is  amply  proven  by  Comrade 
Katayama  's  sketch  of  the  rise  of  the  Labor 
and  Socialist  movement  in  Japan  under 
the  most  discouraging  conditions. 

The  Japanese  government  is  increasing 
its  repressive  measures  against  the  prole- 


INTRODUCTION  13 

tariat.  Recently,  Comrade  T.  Sakai  was 
imprisoned  for  propaganda  in  favor  "of 
an  extension  of  the  suffrage."  And  in 
its  reactionary  sweep,  the  Japanese  gov- 
ernment is  destroying  a  peculiar  instru- 
ment it  forged  for  the  deception  of  the 
workers — the  Yu-Ai-Kai.  The  Yu-Ai-Kai 
was  a  "union"  organized  under  govern- 
ment auspices,  including  in  its  membership 
capitalists,  professors  and  officials  of  the 
government,  its  chief  activity  being  the 
publication  of  a  paper  to  deceive  the  work- 
ers. Employers  often  brutally  coerced 
their  workers  to  join  this  "union,"  and  it 
became  a  means  of  destroying  the  legiti- 
mate organizations  of  the  proletariat.  But 
now  the  Imperial  government  itself  is 
persecuting  the  Yu-Ai-Kai,  against  the 
protests  of  Baron  Shibusawa  and  other 
magnates  of  capital,  while  the  workers  are 
rapidly  deserting  it  entirely.  This  is 
significant  equally  of  the  stupidity  of  the 
government  and  the  awakening  of  the 
workers. 


14  INTRODUCTION 

I  have  said  that  Japan  is  part  and  parcel 
of  the  general  imperialistic  forces  and  am- 
bitions that  plunged  the  world  into  dis- 
aster; and  this  Imperialism  is  determinant 
in  the  recent  history  and  development  of 
Japan. 

The  Japanese  people  emerged  definitely 
into  the  world  of  modern  production  and 
exchange  at  a  time  when  Capitalism  had 
developed  into  a  new  stage  of  its  existence, 
—the  stage  of  Imperialism.  Normally, 
the  development  of  Capitalism  would  have 
produced  a  bourgeois,  democratic  revo- 
lution in  Japan;  but  the  existence  of  Im- 
perialism altered  the  course  of  events. 
Imperialism  is  the  negation  of  democracy; 
It  means,  historically,  the  end  of  bourgeois 
democracy  and  the  re-introduction  of 
autocracy  under  a  variety  of  political 
forms.  In  nations  which  completed  their 
bourgeois  democratic  revolution,  as  Eng- 
land and  France,  imperialism  develops  a 
reaction  against  democracy  and  establishes 
the  autocracy  of  imperialistic  State  Cap- 


INTRODUCTION  15 

italism;  in  nations  which  had  not  com- 
pleted their  bourgeois  revolution,  as  Ger- 
many, or  which  never  had  the  beginnings 
of  one,  as  Japan,  Imperialism  prevents  the 
appearance  of  the  institutions  of  bourgeois 
democracy.  The  feudal  class  is  not 
destroyed;  it  becomes  capitalistic  and  is 
put  into  the  service  of  Imperialism; 
autocracy  is  not  abolished,  but  bent  to  the 
uses  of  Imperialism.  This  was  precisely 
the  development  in  Japan,  as  in  Germany. 
Imperialistic  Capitalism  was  developed  on 
the  basis  of  still  prevailing  feudal  condi- 
tions and  ideology,  a  situation  excellent 
for  the  profitmad  ruling  class,  but  simply 
murderous  to  the  workers  and  peasants, 
and  disastrous  to  the  rise  of  democratic 
ideas  and  institutions.  Instead  of  com- 
prehensively developing  the  internal  mar- 
ket and  its  corresponding  normal  -condi- 
tions of  production,  the  Japanese  ruling 
class  embarked  upon  a  policy  of  export 
trade  and  Imperialism,  because  it  was 
more  profitable,  and  because  the  develop- 


16  INTEODUCTION 

ment  of  the  internal  market  would  have 
meant  the  end  of  low  wages  and  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  homogeneous,  aggressive 
proletariat. 

The  role  to  which  Japan  aspires,  and 
conspires  for,  is  that  of  arbiter  of  the  Far 
East.  Its  imperialistic  interests  dictate 
the  establishment  of  Japanese  hegemony 
on  the  Asiatic  continent,  and  particularly 
in  succulently-rich  and  helpless  China. 
Japan  has  already  promulgated  a  sort  of 
"Monroe  Doctrine,"  which  insists  upon 
priority  of  interest  and  consideration  for 
Japan  in  the  Far  West,  just  as  the  Ameri- 
can Monroe  Doctrine  has  been  perverted 
into  a  similar  claim  for  the  United  States 
in  Central  and  South  America. 

The  war  has  definitely  converted  Japan 
into  a  dominant  imperialistic  nation.  From 
a  debtor  nation,  Japan  has  become  a  cred- 
itor nation,  with  large  masses  of  capital 
that  must  be  exported  for  investment.  In 
January,  1918,  Finance  Minister  Shoda  in 
his  budget  speech  said  that  imports  since 


INTRODUCTION  17 

the  beginning  of  the  war  had  aggregated 
2,623,000,000  yen  (a  yen  is  equivalent  to 
almost  half  a  dollar),  and  exports,  3,799,- 
000,000  yen,  the  resulting  favorable  balance 
of  1,175,000,000  yen  being  increased  by 
700,000,000  yen  "from  other  sources." 
The  accumulation  of  capital  from  this 
favorable  balance  of  trade  is  increasing 
rapidly  as  the  months  go  by.  Moreover, 
industry  has  expanded  to  gigantic  propor- 
tions, including  the  shipping  industry.  In- 
dustry and  trade  are  increasing,  not  in 
mathematical,  but  in  geometrical  progres- 
sion. Japanese  Capitalism  is  entrenching 
itself  firmly  in  all  sections  of  Asia,  and 
particularly  in  China,  where  economic  and 
political  "penetration"  proceed  simultane- 
ously. Japan's  great  need  until  recently 
was  the  import  of  raw  materials,  including 
iron  and  cotton;  the  enormous  expansion 
of  industry  has  made  this  need  still  more 
imperative,  and  it  has  been  supplemented 
by  the  urgent  need  for  investment  markets 
to  which  Japanese  Capitalism  can  export 


18  INTRODUCTION 

its  surplus  capital.  All  this  means  a  fever- 
ish impetus  to  Imperialism;  and  the  field 
for  Japanese  Imperialism  is  Asia. 

It  is  just  at  this  point  that  antagonism 
develops  between  Japan  and  the  other  im- 
perialistic powers  in  general,  between 
Japan  and  the  United  States  in  particular, 
an  antagonism  latent  with  the  threat  of 
war,  a  war  that  would  ultimately  involve 
all  the  other  great  powers  to  protect  their 
own  Imperialism.  Economically  and 
financially,  the  United  States  is  being 
affected  by  the  war  in  precisely  the  same 
way  as  Japan,  only  more  so.  The  Far 
East,  and  particularly  China,  is  a  great, 
capitalistically-untapped  reservoir;  it  can 
do  two  things  indispensable  to  an  imperial- 
istic nation,— provide  practically  unlimited 
sources  of  raw  materials  and  absorb  vast 
amounts  of  investment  capital.  This  im- 
port of  raw  material  and  the  export  of 
capital  are  the  nerve-centers  of  Capitalism 
to-day,  and  the  source  of  the  great  an- 
tagonisms which  may  again  produce  a 


INTRODUCTION  19 

catastrophe, — unless  the  proletariat  acts 
decisively  in  the  performance  of  its  historic 
mission. 

In  this  situation  latent  with  catastrophe, 
the  workers  of  the  two  nations  must  under- 
stand each  other,  must  assist  each  other, 
must  unite  to  avert  the  impending  menace. 

For  the  workers  of  the  two  nations  alone 
and  decisively,  in  co-operation  with  the 
workers  of  the  world,  can  prevent  a  con- 
flict. No  dependence  can  be  placed  upon 
the  words  of  the  representatives  of  the 
ruling  classes;  understandings  and  agree- 
ments are  converted  into  scraps  of  paper 
when  they  clash  with  dominant  imperial- 
istic interests.  The  proletariat  alone  can 
act ;  and  it  is  the  function  of  the  New  Inter- 
national now  in  process  of  becoming  to 
prepare  the  revolutionary  proletariat  to 
act  when  the  crisis  comes,  aye,  to  prevent 
the  coming  of  the  crisis. 

The  fomenting  of  race  prejudice  and 
hatred  is  exactly  what  the  ruling  classes 
desire.  Hatreds  of  race  against  race  con- 


20  INTRODUCTION 

stitute  the  ideologic  dynamo  of  Imperial- 
ism. It  is  the  task  of  the  Socialist  to  break 
down  these  hatreds.  And  when  the  Ameri- 
can Federation  of  Labor  foments  racial 
hatred  against  the  Japanese,  it  is  betray- 
ing the  interests  of  the  workers.  The  Jap- 
anese workers  in  this  country  are  part  and 
parcel  of  our  proletariat ;  they  have  proven 
that  they  are  organizable,  that  they  can 
fight  the  industrial  oppressors,  that  they 
are  excellent  material  for  the  militant 
proletarian  movement.  It  is  sheer  suicide 
for  the  American  proletariat  to  indulge  in 
race  hatred  against  the  Japanese,  or 
against  any  other  racial  element  of  our 
people. 

The  American  proletariat,  moreover, 
must  understand  precisely  what  are  the 
real  forces  of  labor  and  progress  in  Japan. 
It  must  not  play  into  the  hands  of  the  Im- 
perial government.  Some  years  ago,  the 
Yu-Ai-Kai  sent  a  fraternal  delegate  to  a 
convention  of  the  American  Federation  of 
Labor,  a  Mr.  Susuki,  secretary  of  Baron 


INTRODUCTION  21 

Shibusawa.  Mr.  Susuki  was  accepted  as  a 
bona-fide  representative  of  the  Japanese 
workers,  Messrs.  Gompers  and  Scharren- 
berg  solemnly  accepting  the  invitation  to 
go  to  Japan  to  " teach"  the  workers  there 
how  to  organize.  Operabouffe !  Many 
Socialists  also  made  this  gross  error,  in 
spite  of  Comrade  Katayama's  expose  in 
the  New  York  Call  of  the  real  character  of 
Susuki  and  his  "labor"  organization. 

In  the  coming  great  work  of  reconstruc- 
tion, the  Socialist  Party  should  recognize 
and  emphasize  the  vital  importance  of  the 
Japanese-American  issue,  and  make  it  a 
central  feature  of  its  agitational  and  edu- 
cational propaganda.  Indeed,  this  is  all 
the  more  necessary  considering  the  tem- 
porary weakness  of  the  Japanese  move- 
ment, a  weakness  due  to  definite  historical 
circumstances.  Why  could  not  the  Party 
make  an  appropriation  to  assist  our  Com- 
rades in  Japan?  Why  not  more  intimate 
contact  between  the  two  movements  ?  And, 
surely,  the  Party  could  make  use  of  an  ap- 


22  INTRODUCTION 

propriation  for  special  propaganda  among 
the  Japanese  in  this  country,  could  avail 
itself  of  the  services  of  a  Sen  Katayama. 

*     #     * 

Comrade  Sen  Katayama  is  an  interest- 
ing personality.  At  sixty  years  of  age,  he 
retains  the  enthusiasm  and  idealism  of 
youth;  forced  to  make  a  living  for  him- 
self and  his  daughter,  as  an  ordinary 
worker,  he  devotes  all  his  spare  time  to 
the  Cause  to  which  he  has  dedicated  his 
life.  Katayama  is  unpretentious  and 
democratic;  the  fan-fare  of  heroics  makes 
no  appeal  to  him.  He  is  a  worker  in  the 
workers '  movement,  accepting  the  worker's 
lot— that  is  all;  but  that  is  all  a  man  can 
do. 

It  was  at  the  Amsterdam  Socialist  Con- 
gress in  1904  that  Katayama  participated 
in  a  symbolic  act.  Japan  and  Russia,  the 
Russian  and  Japanese  autocracy,  were  at 
war.  The  chairman  of  the  Congress  was 
speaking,  when  Katayama  and  Plekhanov 
arose,  and  in  full  view  of  the  audience, 


INTRODUCTION  23 

shook  hands, — symbol  of  that  international 
proletarian  solidarity  which  will  yet  prove 
mightier  than  cannon  and  chauvinism. 

Sen  Katayama  was  born  December  7, 
1858,  of  peasant  parentage,  and  the  story 
of  his  life  is  the  story  of  the  Japanese 
labor  and  Socialist  movement.  He  worked 
on  a  farm,  studying  at  home,  with  only 
short  intervals  of  school  education.  In 
1882  Katayama  went  to  Tokyo,  working 
in  a  printing  plant  ten  hours  a  day  at  7  1-2 
cents  a  day ;  by  working  overtime,  he  could 
earn  $2.50  a  month.  The  ordeal  of  these 
days  made  Katayama  a  permanent  prole- 
tarian with  the  aspirations  of  the  militant 
proletariat. 

For  a  time,  Katayama  worked  as  a  jani- 
tor in  a  Chinese  university,  and  studied 
the  Chinese  classics  in  his  spare  time ;  then 
he  came  to  the  United  States  to  study — 
no-t  subsidized  by  the  Imperial  government, 
as  so  many  Japanese  students  are,  but  en- 
tirely upon  his  own  resources,  which  con- 
sisted of  exactly  one  dollar  upon  his  ar- 


24  INTRODUCTION 

rival  in  California  in  1884.  Katayama 
studied  English  in  a  Chinese  Mission  in 
Alameda,  entered  John  Hopkins  Academy 
at  Oakland,  from  there  went  to  Maryville 
College,  Tennessee,  and  in  1889  entered 
Grinnell  College,  graduating  in  1892.  Two 
years  at  Andover  and  one  year  at  Yale 
were  spent  in  the  study  of  social  problems. 
And  during  all  these  years  Katayama  had 
to  work  for  his  living  and  his  tuition,  the 
ordeal  of  it  all  preparing  him  for  the  activ- 
ity of  a  militant  rebel. 

About  this  time,  Katayama  began  to 
study  Socialism,  starting  with  Ferdinand 
Lassalle,  who  inspired  him  with  a  love  for 
the  practical  work  of  organization.  After 
a  short  stay  in  England  studying  social 
problems,  Katayama  returned  to  the 
United  States  on  his  way  to  Japan,  where 
he  immediately  became  active  in  the  de- 
veloping labor  movement,  and  soon  became 
its  central  figure.  In  1904  he  went  as  a 
delegate  to  the  Amsterdam  Congress,  and 
after  a  tour  of  the  United  States  returned 


INTRODUCTION  25 

to  Japan,  to  find  the  movement  dominated 
by  petit  bourgeois  intellectuals  and  perse- 
cuted bitterly  by  the  authorities.  His  ac- 
tivity in  a  big  strike  in  Tokyo  caused  his 
arrest  and  nine  months'  imprisonment, 
which  greatly  impaired  his  health;  and 
upon  his  release,  his  every  move  was  in- 
terfered with,  detectives  were  always  with 
him  wherever  he  went,  and  he  was  com- 
pelled to  leave  Japan,  again  coming  to  the 
United  States.  This  persecution  was 
largely  due  to  the  intrepid  attitude  against 
the  war  with  Kussia  adopted  by  the  Japan- 
ese Socialists. 

But  in  America  the  Japanese  Consuls 
and  detectives,  upon  instructions  from  the 
Imperial  government,  persecuted  Kataya- 
ma,  making  his  life  unpleasant  and  his  or- 
ganizing work  impossible.  His  friends 
were  intimidated  by  the  Consuls,  who 
possess  great  power.  The  Japanese  Day 
Laborers'  Union,  of  which  Katayama  was 
an  officer,  was  compelled  to  denounce  him ; 
one  of  his  friends  was  actually  kidnapped, 


26  INTKOBUCTION 

sent  to  Japan,  and  imprisoned  for  eighteen 
months.  Katayama  was  compelled  to 
leave  California  and  come  to*  New  York, 
where  he  has  since  been  publishing  a  paper 

in  Japanese  and  English,  The  Heimin. 

*     *     * 

The  central  characteristics  of  Kataya- 
ma's  activity  and  personality  are  an  un- 
compromising class  consciousness  and 
internationalism.  He  greeted  with  joy  the 
proletarian  revolution  in  Russia,  as  did  his 
comrades  in  Japan;  and  he  is  firmly  con- 
vinced that  the  revolutionary  Socialism  o.f 
the  Bolsheviki  must  become  the  basis  of 
the  New  International.  At  sixty  years  of 
age,  Sen  Katayama  looks  to  the  future, 
and  not  to<  the  past — to  the  immediate 
future  of  the  Third  International,  the  In- 
ternational of  revolutionary  Socialism,  of 
the  final,  unconquerable  struggle  against 
Capitalism,  initiated  by  the  proletarian 
revolution  in  Russia. 

History,  says  Trotzky,  is  a  mighty 
engine  promoting  our  ideals.  And  con- 


INTRODUCTION  27 

temporary  history  is  preparing  the  way 
feverishly  and  swiftly  for  our  final 
struggle.  In  this  struggle  the  inter- 
national solidarity  of  the  proletariat  is  an 
indispensable  requirement.  May  Sen 
Katayama's  book  on  the  Japanese  Labor 
Movement  prove  a  factor  in  promoting 
this  solidarity!  May  Sen  Katayma's 
revolutionary  conception  of  Socialism 
prove  a  factor  in  the  revolutionary  recon- 
struction of  Socialism ! 

LOUIS  C.  FBAINA. 
New  York,  July  4,  1918. 


THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN. 

I. 
ITS  BACKGROUND. 


Foreigners  who  visit  Japan  often  claim 
that  Japan's  recent  progress,  however  re- 
markable, is  a  superficial  one,  is  skindeep, 
a  mere  adoption  of  western  civilization. 
They  say  there  is  no  real  development  and 
progress,  but  merely  an  imitation  of  the 
West. 

Thus  saying,  they  tried  to  discredit  the 
present  achievements  of  the  Japanese  and 
reached  the  conclusion  that  the  Japanese 
are  inferior  to  the  western  peoples,  stimu- 
lating in  this  way  the  anti-Japanese  move- 
ment among  the  white  peoples. 

To  understand  the  real  character  and 
feelings  of  a  present-day  Japanese  worker, 
however,  it  is  necessary  to  know  something 
about  his  past,  the  background  leading  in- 
to feudal  times.  Feudalism  in  Japan 
29 


30  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

would  be  a  most  interesting  study  in  itself, 
because  Japanese  feudalism  has  a  unique 
history  of  many  centuries  ending  after  the 
time  of  the  American  Civil  war.  It  en- 
joyed a  peaceful  life  of  activities  and  de- 
velopments for  three  centuries.  During 
these  years  Japan  shut  herself  off  from 
all  outside  influences  and  civilizations. 

Hers  was  an  independent  life  and  she 
created  a  unique  and  a  genuine  Japanese 
civilization.  Class  lines  were  drawn  quite 
sharply  and  distinctly.  Farmers,  artisans 
and  merchants,  each  enjoyed  life  in  peace- 
ful development.  The  study  of  these 
classes  is  illuminating,  but  our  aim  is  to 
show  that  some  of  the  good  qualities  pos- 
sessed by  the  Japanese  workers  were  de- 
veloped during  feudal  times.  Here  we  will 
speak  only  of  the  artisan  class  of  that 
period  in  order  to  illustrate  that  the  pres- 
ent working  classes  have  their  roots  and 
history  in  the  past  however  much  they  may 
appear  to  differ  from  the  Japanese  work- 
ing class  of  to-day. 


THE  BACKGROUND  31 

During  the  days  of  Japanese  feudalism 
the  artisan  class  made  very  good  progress. 
Their  products  are  of  great  value  to  the 
present  generations  and  beautify  not  only 
the  civilization  and  life  of  Japan,  but  mu- 
seums and  art  galleries  in  the  West. 

In  some  of  the  old  crafts,  organized  into 
guilds,  our  artisans  have  devised  ingenious 
means  to  protect  their  interests  against  the 
masters  and  also*  against  outsiders.  One 
of  the  most  interesting  guilds  is  that  of  the 
wood  sawyers.  The  Woodsawyers'  Guild 
of  Tokyo  includes  master  sawyers,  jour- 
neymen and  apprentices.  All  the  journey- 
men must  serve  first  as  an  apprentice,  re- 
gardless of  his  skill.  Wages  were  depend- 
ent upon  and  regulated  by  the  prices  of 
rice. 

Bice  has  been,  and  is  still,  the  chief  food 
of  the  Japanese.  Its  price  regulated  all 
the  other  necessities  of  life  in  the  past.' 
Another  requirement  of  the  guild  was  that 
each  member  should  pay  to  his  employer 
a  small  percentage  of  his  wages,  for  the 


32          THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

use  of  the  lumber  yard.  This  nominal  pay- 
ment gave  him  an  exclusive  right  to  work 
in  the  lumber  yard  and  the  owner  could  not 
employ  any  outsider.  Thus  the  sawyers' 
guild  attained  a  perfect  closed  shop,  in  the 
modern  sense;  also  a  wage  scale  based  on 
the  price  of  rice. 

The  miners'  guild  is  far  more  extensive 
and  thoroughgoing  in  its  organization.  It 
was  communistic  and  it  included  miners  of 
all  Japan  and  of  all  kinds  of  mines.  After 
a  miner  worked  for  three  years  the  guild 
issued  to  him  a  membership  card  or  scroll 
and  this  membership  entitled  him  to  seek  a 
job  in  any  mine  in  the  country.  And  this 
institution  still  holds  at  the  present  day. 

Wherever  the  miner  goes  he  is  treated 
as  a  comrade  and  a  guest  by  the  working 
miners.  He  may  work,  if  there  is  work, 
at  any  mine,  or  he  may  remain  in  the  hope 
of  securing  work.  If  he  prefers  to  try  his 
luck  at  other  places  he  receives  a  sufficient 
allowance  from  his  fellow  miners  to  reach 
the  next  mine. 


THE  BACKGROUND  33 

When  an  old  miner  quits  his  job  on  ac- 
count of  his  age,  or  when  a  miner  is  crip- 
pled in  some  accident,  he  is  authorized  by 
the  guild  to>  collect  from  all  the  miners 
throughout  the  country.  Each  mine  is  an 
independent  and  self-governing  unit  of  the 
one  great  guild. 

The  miner  thus  authorized  in  one  mine 
will  be  allowed  by  all  other  mines  to  collect 
benefits  amounting  today  to  from  one  to 
two  thousand  yen,  according  to  his  stand- 
ing. For  this  institution  still  holds  at  the 
present  day. 

During  the  feudal  period  our  miners  had 
entire  underground  as  their  exclusive  jur- 
isdiction and  their  own  territories.  None 
but  miners  might  enter  there.  Besides  the 
miners  received  the  best  wages,  which  is 
shown  by  a  Japanese  idiom — Kanayama 
Shotai — to  describe  their  pay.  This  phrase 
means  luxurious  living  or  Epicureanism. 

The  miners  called  each  other  " brother." 
Their  mutual  relations  were  most  warm 
and  cordial.  All  the  bachelors,  or  single 


34          THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

men,  lived  a  communistic  life.  They  could 
travel  all  over  Japan  without  any  difficulty. 
Of  course,  they  possessed  defects  and 
shortcomings,  being  the  products  of  their 
own  age,  but  theirs  was  a  strong  and  well- 
regulated  guild.  Each  and  all  miners 
benefited  by  it. 

But  the  miners  of  feudal  times  were  con- 
sidered, in  the  eyes  of  the  public,  to  be  the 
most  rough  and  dangerous  members  of 
society.  No  doubt  they  were  outcasts  in 
the  public  mind,  for  the  mines  were  con- 
sidered a  refuge  for  criminals  and  outlaws. 
It  is  said  in  Japan  that  if  a  man  is  de- 
graded enough  to  enter  a  mine,  he  is  ab- 
solutely free  from  the  grip  of  the  law.  It 
is  true  that  in  the  feudal  days  there  ex- 
isted neither  social  intercourse  nor  sym- 
pathy between  the  miners  and  the  people 
of  Japan.  But  the  miners  of  the  old  days 
were  an  orderly  group. 

The  stone  masons'  guild  is  one  of  the 
most  highly  developed  and  best  regulated 
of  the  Japanese  labor  organizations.  They 


THE  BACKGROUND  35 

possessed  a  technical  monopoly  and  were 
considered  the  most  trustworthy  artisans 
in  the  country.  They  always  received  the 
highest  wages. 

These  are  only  a  few  examples.  Each 
trade  has  had  its  own  guild  and  a  history 
of  struggles  common  to>  all  the  working 
classes  of  the  world.  Each  protected  its 
own  interest  to  the  best  of  its  own  ability, 
but  most  of  them  were  broken  up  by  the 
coming  industrial  system  under  modern 
capitalism.  Yet  we  can  trace  many  good 
features  existing  today  to  the  old  organ- 
izations, particularly  in  the  metal  indus- 
tries, in  shipbuilding  and  in  factories  using 
the  modern  machine  processes.  The  best 
Japanese  workers  today  are  the  old  black- 
smiths who  forged  and  wrought  swords 
and  plows,  or  those  trained  by  them. 

The  very  first  Japanese  factory  was 
started  by  the  feudal  government  and  man- 
aged by  the  English.  Those  who  went  to 
work  in  the  factory  were  the  blacksmiths 


36          THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

of  that  time.    It  was  so  with  other  indus- 
tries. 

Such  is  the  background  of  our  modern 
Japanese  industry  in  which  over  one  mil- 
lion factory  workers  are  now  employed. 
Fifty  years  ago  there  was  no  cotton  mill  in 
Japan;  now  there  are  one  hundred  and 
sixty-two  cotton  spinning  factories,  with 
nearly  three  million  spindles  and  several 
hundred  thousand  young  girls  are  working 
in  the  mills  day  and  night. 

BEGINNING  OF   THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT. 

The  modern  labor  movement  in  Japan 
may  be  said  to  have  begun  in  the  summer 
of  1897  after  the  war  with  China.  For  the 
first  time  in  the  history  of  Japan  the  in- 
dustries had  been  prosperous  on  account 
of  the  war  indemnity  taken  from  China. 
The  working  class  seemed  to  awaken.  The 
workers  were  demanding  an  increase  in 
wages  owing  to  the  increased  cost  of  living. 
Many  strikes  were  reported  with  varied 
successes  and  failures.  The  modern  indus- 


THE   BACKGROUND  37 

trial  system  was  a  new  experience  in 
Japan  so  there  was  no  legal  restriction 
upon  the  labor  movement  or  upon  strikes. 
This  was  shown  by  the  fact  that  in  six 
months  we  gained  over  two  thousand  mem- 
bers for  the  B/odo-Kumiai  Kiseikai,  a  labor 
association  organized  for  the  purpose  of 
forming  trade  unions.  A  majority  of 
them  were  iron  workers  employed  in  the 
government's  arsenal  and  the  railway 
workshop  at  Shimbashi,  Tokyo,  and  at  the 
Yokohama  dock  and  the  Tokosuka  navy 

yard. 

Labor  meetings  were  well  attended  and 
the  topics  discussed  were  the  power  of  the 
unions,  the  strike  and  boycott,  and  above 
all  we  urged  the  necessity  of  organizing 
the  working  class.  Our  work  was  most 
pleasant  during  this  period.  The  men 
from  different  factories  talked  to  their  fel- 
low workers  on  the  labor  movement  dur- 
ing meal  time.  Each  week  our  member- 
ship increased.  Each  successive  meeting 
was  held  with  a  larger  attendance  than  be- 


38          THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

fore.  Soon  the  labor  meetings  were  ar- 
ranged by  the  workers  themselves.  Three 
of  us,  Takano,  a  journalist,  Sawada,  a 
tailor  and  I  often  went  to  speak  at  these 
meetings  and  we  found  new  speakers 
among  the  workers  who  were  able  to  ad- 
dress these  gatherings  of  their  fellow 
workers. 

IRON  WORKERS'  UNION  AND  THE  LABOR 
WORLD. 

On  the  1st  of  December,  1897,  the  Iron 
Workers'  Union  was  organized  in  Tokyo, 
with  over  one  thousand  members.  This 
was  the  first  trades  union  in  Japan.  Its 
constitution  and  by-laws  were  copied  from 
those  of  the  American  trades  unions.  On 
the  same  day  the  first  number  of  the  Labor 
World  was  published,  this  being  the  sole 
organ  of  the  labor  movement.  I  was  one 
of  the  secretaries  of  the  Iron  "Workers' 
Union  and  editor  of  the  Labor  World. 

This  little  journal  had  played  a  very  im- 
portant part  in  the  Japanese  labor  move- 


THE  BACKGROUND  39 

ment.  It  contained  one  full  page  of  labor 
news  in  English  for  the  benefit  of  the  for- 
eign exchanges.  The  last  number  ap- 
peared December  21,  in  1901,  making  just 
one  hundred  issues  that  had  been  pub- 
lished. It  was  enlarged  to  a  daily  on  Jan- 
uary 1,  1902.  The  tone  and  spirit  of  the 
labor  movement  at  that  time  can  be  illus- 
trated by  a  quotation  from  the  Labor 
World: 

' '  The  people  are  silent.  I  will  be  the  ad- 
vocate of  this  silence.  I  will  speak  for  the 
dumb;  I  will  speak  for  the  despairing  sil- 
ent ones;  I  will  interpret  their  stammer- 
ings ;  I  will  interpret  the  grumblings,  mur- 
murings,  the  tumults  of  the  crowds,  the 
complaints,  the  cries  of  men  who  have  been 
so  degraded  by  suffering  and  ignorance 
that  they  have  no  strength  to  voice  their 
wrongs.  I  will  be  the  word  of  the  people. 
I  will  be  the  bleeding  mouth  from  which 
the  gag  has  been  snatched.  I  will  say 
everything. ' ' 

The  time  for  beginning  the  labor  move- 


40          THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

ment  was  auspicious,  as  is  shown  by  the 
government  report  on  strikes  from  June 
20  to  November  19,  1897. 

Number  of  strikes. 29 

Number  of  strikers 3,768 

Of  men .. .. 3,584 

Of  women 184 

Largest  strike  500 

Smallest  strike   7 

Suppressed  by  police 12 

Wages  partially  increased 1 

Strikes  successful  12 

Partially  successful 6 

Failures 11 

Uncertain    2 

Strike  leaders  dismissed 28 

Longest  strike 25  days 

Shortest  strike 5  hours 

BIG  RAILWAY  STRIKE. 

The  year  1898  began  with  a  great  strike 
in  the  Nippon  Railway  Company,  at  that 
time  the  largest  railway  company  in 
Japan.  Its  lines  extend  from  Tokyo  to 


THE   BACKGROUND  41 

Amori,  a  distance  of  over  five  hundred 
miles,  forming  two  large  circles.  The  com- 
pany employed  over  ten  thousand  persons. 
Engineers  and  firemen  numbered  about 
1,000.  They  were  harshly  dealt  with  by 
the  company  so  they  were  dissatisfied  with 
conditions.  The  company  was  ever  watch- 
ful to  prevent  any  one  from  organizing  for 
better  conditions.  It  promptly  picked  out 
the  rebels  and  sent  them  to  distant  sta- 
tions, often  to  a  poorer  climate  and  an 
isolated  point.  This  was  called  "exile." 

Between  Morioka  and  Amori  on  the  line 
there  are  two  locomotive '  stations  which 
are  considered  the  worst  points.  At  this 
time  there  were  two  or  three  dozen  "exil- 
ers"  at  these  stations.  Every  day  they 
met  and  discussed  the  situation.  On  Jan- 
uary, 1898,  one  of  them  addressed  a  letter 
to  firemen  and  engineers  of  the  entire  lines. 
This  letter  stated  their  common  grievances 
and  demanded  remedies. 

The  exiled  firemen  and  engineers  started 
to  organize  secretly,  but  some  one  be- 


42  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

trayed  the  cause.  At  this  the  company 
immediately  dismissed  them.  But  already 
the  letter  had  accomplished  its  intended 
aim  and  the  dismissal  of  these  ringleaders 
was  the  signal  for  a  strike,  which  began 
on  the  24th  of  February,  1898. 

It  lasted  only  a  few  days.  The  company 
complied  with  all  the  demands  and  the 
strike  was  a  complete  success  to  the  work- 
ers, who  had  conducted  the  strike  very 
skillfully,  using  a  telegraphic  code  previ- 
ously arranged.  They  accomplished  the 
end  sought  without  a  leak.  Encouraged  by 
the  success  of  this  strike  the  railroad  men 
formed  a  union  and  compelled  the  com- 
pany to  recognize  it,  establishing  the 
closed  shop. 

The  Labor  World  gives  a  record  of 
fifteen  strikes  beside  the  one  occurring  on 
the  Nippon  Railroad  during  the  year  of 
1898.  In  thirteen  of  these  strikes  6,762 
persons,  including  150  girls,  were  involved. 
Besides  the  railroad  workers  1,000  print- 
ers, 70  dyers  and  65  furniture  makers  were 


THE  BACKGROUND  43 

organized  and  sixteen  workingmens'  co- 
operative distributive  unions  were  organ- 
ized, each  with  its  own  store. 

These  were  mostly  managed  by  iron 
workers  and  railroad  workers  who  were 
members  of  the  union.  One  productive, 
co-operative  union  was  started  by  iron 
workers  at  Tokyo.  In  a  few  years  the 
organization  grew  into  a  strong  union  of 
over  a  thousand  members  with  about  ten 
thousand  yen  in  funds. 

An  indirect  result  of  our  labor  move- 
ment so  far,  we  had  at  least  revived  and 
reorganized  two  old  guilds  into  a  modern 
union,  i.  e.,  the  ship  carpenters'  and  wood 
sawyers'  union.  One  had  1,500  members 
and  the  other  2,200.  Both  had  conducted 
a  successful  strike  during  the  year.  The 
president  of  the  ship  carpenters'  union, 
Mr.  F.  Saito,  has  joined  the  labor  associa- 
tion and  later  became  a  good  Socialist.  I 
have  often  addressed  the  meetings  of  the 
Ship  Carpenters'  Union. 

In  the  course  of  a  few  years  all  the 


44          THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

unions  gained  more  members  than  ever 
before.  For  instance,  the  Nippon  Rail- 
road Workers'  Union  accumulated  50,000 
yen  for  a  strike  fund  and  20,000  yen  for 
benefit  funds.  It  published  its  own  month- 
ly organ. 

The  Iron  Workers'  Union  had  enrolled 
5,400  members  at  the  end  of  four  years 
and  spent  8,000  yen  for  the  sick  and  death 
benefits  of  members.  The  I.  W.  U.  bought 
a  house  for  their  headquarters  and  the 
Labor  World  was  used  as  the  official  organ 
of  the  union.  If  we  include  the  unions  re- 
vived and  reorganized  from  the  old  guilds, 
we  had  at  one  time  nearly  twenty  thousand 
union  members. 

This  was  before  there  were  legal  ob- 
structions to  labor  organizations  and  we 
had  a  free  hand  in  the  labor  movement. 
We  were  not,  however,  left  much  longer 
free  to  grow  and  to  build  up  our  move- 
ment. We  soon  felt  the  pressure  of  the 
government,  although  there  were  as  yet  no 
laws  to  directly  suppress  the  labor  move- 


THE  BACKGROUND  45 

ment.  The  first  movement  against  us  oc- 
curred in  the  spring  of  1898  upon  the  oc- 
casion of  the  Iron  Workers '  Union  Cherry 
Blossom  picnic,  when  the  police  author- 
ities prohibited  us  from  marching  through 
the  streets  of  Tokyo*  and  enjoying  our- 
selves at  the  Uyeno  park  like  other  people. 

There  was  another  event  which  we  may 
look  upon  as  an  indirect  result  of  the  labor 
movement.  The  government  prepared  a 
factory  bill  with  the  intention  of  introduc- 
ing it  at  the  coming  session  of  the  Imperial 
Diet.  The  bill  was  sent  to  all  the  cham- 
bers of  commerce  of  the  land  to  get  opin- 
ions on  it.  Then  the  bill  was  discussed  at 
the  meeting  of  the  higher  commercial  and 
industrial  commissions  appointed  by  the 
government  from  a  group  of  prominent 
persons  in  the  country. 

They  discussed  the  bill  and  finally 
passed  it  in  almost  worthless  amended 
skeleton  form.  But  even  in  this  form  of 
so  little  use  to  labor,  the  bill  was  not  in- 
troduced at  the  next  Diet,  because  of  the 


46          THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

opposition  of  the  big  capitalists,  including 
Baron  Shibusswa,  the  present  patron  of 
the  Yu-Ai-Kai  Friendly  Society;  and  it 
was  laid  on  the  table  many  years  to, come. 

At  the  time  of  the  discussion  of  the  bill 
the  Iron  Workers '  Union  appointed  a  com- 
mittee to  draw  up  a  note  stating  its  desire 
for  amendments  to  the  bill  and  the  com- 
mittee was  sent  to  call  on  the  commission- 
ers to  urge  the  passage  of  the  bill  in  the 
form  suggested  in  the  note.  But  this  too 
came  to  nothing  on  account  of  capitalist 
opposition.  It  shows,  however,  that  the 
Iron  Workers'  Union  and  the  labor  lead- 
ers had  an  active  interest  in  factory  regu- 
lations. 

These  checks,  however,  did  not  cause  us 
to  lose  faith  in  the  labor  movement,  but  we 
vigorously  continued  our  work  for  the 
cause  of  labor. 


n. 

A  PERIOD  OF  SUCCESS. 

Eighteen  months  after  we  had  begun  the 
labor  movement  in  Japan  our  experiences 
assured  us  that  our  prospects  were  very 
good.  The  Iron  Workers'  Union  organ- 
ized on  December  1,  1897,  and  R.  B.  Engi- 
neers'  and  Firemens'  Union,  organized  in 
March,  1898,  were  in  a  flourishing  condi- 
tion, both  with  a  growing  membership. 
The  year  just  closed  was  the  most  fruitful 
one  for  the  labor  movement  in  Japan. 

Every  one  connected  with  the  movement 
had  a  firm  faith  in  the  great  future  of  the 
working  class  and  all  worked  with  cour- 
age and  enthusiasm.  Two  of  our  leaders 
settled  in  Kobe  and  started  a  similar  move- 
ment in  that  city.  One  of  these  was  a 
shoemaker  by  trade  who  had  been  in 
America  for  some  time.  He  was  a  good 
labor  agitator  and  now  worked  at  Kobe 
for  the  movement. 

47 


48  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

At  Tokyo  labor  meetings  were  held 
regularly  in  various  parts  of  the  city  and 
its  vicinity.  To  all  came  increasing  audi- 
ences. Subscribers  to  the  Labor  World 
were  increasing  steadily,  this  being  the 
only  organ  of  the  working  class  that  gave 
any  information  about  the  new  labor 
movement  abroad.  It  was,  in  fact,  the  sole 
organ  of  labor  propaganda.  It  attempted 
to  educate  the  working  class  in  general. 
Our  working  class  was  then  very  eager  for 
any  new  knowledge  and  they  were  not  slow 
to  act  on  an  idea  when  they  got  hold  of  it. 

Propaganda  on  the  subject  of  co-opera- 
tives for  half  a  year  or  more  in  public 
meetings  and  in  the  columns  of  the  Labor 
World,  resulted  in  many  co-operative  dis- 
tributive stores,  organized  and  conducted 
by  members  of  different  unions. 

In  July  (1898)  the  Labor  World  pub- 
lished a  report  on  eleven  co-operative 
stores.  The  total  paid  up  shares  of  these 
unions  amounted  to  7,620  yen,  an  aggre- 
gate monthly  business  of  7,497  yen  and  a 


A  PERIOD  OF  SUCCESS  49 

total  membership  of  1,346.  One  of  the 
eleven  stores  still  exists  today  at  Omiya 
where  a  great  railway  workshop  is  located. 

Five  years  ago  this  co-operative  union 
built  a  large  club  house  with  an  auditorium 
which  has  a  seating  capacity  of  over  one 
thousand  persons  and  which  is  used  for 
theatrical  performances.  This  store  has 
been  of  great  benefit  to  the  people  of 
Omiya  as  well  as  to  the  workers.  Although 
the  labor  union  was  crushed  a  few  years 
later,  this  co-operative  store  survived  and 
has  been  flourishing  ever  since.  On  ac- 
count of  the  co-operative  store,  retail 
prices  of  foodstuffs  and  other  necessaries 
have  always  been  cheaper  here  than  in 
adjoining  towns. 

But  to  return  to  the  labor  unions.  Thus 
far  we  had  been  comparatively  free  from 
any  government  interference  in  our  work 
except  that  we  could  not  parade  in  the 
streets  or  hold  open  air  meetings.  Oc- 
casionally the  police  attempted  to  stop  a 
labor  meeting,  but  this  did  not  interfere 


50 


with  our  agitation  to  any  great  extent.  On 
the  contrary,  slight  police  interference  at 
our  meetings  gave  them  an  impetus  and 
public  sympathy  was  on  our  side. 

But  a  strong  and  utterly  unjust  discrim- 
ination was  made  against  us  in  January, 
1899,  when  the  Iron  Workers'  Union  gave 
their  first  anniversary  celebration  at 
Uyeno  Park.  The  government  suddenly 
dissolved  the  meeting,  although  we  pos- 
sessed a  permit  issued  to  us  from  the  park 
authority,  which  means  from  the  Imperial 
household,  the  park  belonging  to  this  ad- 
ministration. 

This  high-handed  suppression  was  car- 
ried out  by  applying  an  old  law  copied 
from  Prussia. 

The  authorities  were  attempting  to  ob- 
struct the  growth  of  the  labor  movement, 
but  so  far  there  was  no  actual  law  to  apply 
to  them,  so  that  we  carried  on  a  lively  work 
of  education  and  propaganda  for  several 
years.  Even  police  interference  was 
utilized  to>  our  advantage  by  the  agitators. 


A  PERIOD  OF  SUCCESS  51 

To  the  Japanese  workers  then  a  strike 
means  an  effective  weapon  with  which  to 
secure  their  due  demands.  In  fact,  in  most 
instances  they  got  what  they  wanted  by 
striking  for  it. 

Our  history  of  feudalism  shows  in  abun- 
dant cases  that  tenant  farmers  secured  an 
adjustment  of  their  grievances  against 
their  lords  or  their  officers  by  means  of 
riots.  Riots  in  Japan  during  feudalism 
played  a  very  important  part  for  reform 
and  for  the  progress  of  the  working  class. 
In  the  same  way  our  workers  use  strikes 
today  as  a  direct  weapon  to  better  their 
conditions. 

In  March  of  1899  the  plasterers  reor- 
ganized their  old  guild  into  a  new  union 
under  the  leadership  of  Mr.  Sukenobu  Ota, 
who  had  been  an  able  labor  leader  in  his 
trade  guild  for  more  than  half  a  century. 
The  Plasterers'  Union  had  then  2,600 
members. 

Beside  the  Japanese  unions  already 
mentioned,  such  as  the  ship  carpenters, 


52          THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

stone  masons,  etc.,  there  were  others  who 
followed  the  example  of  the  former 
unions.  The  Labor  World,  in  an  issue  of 
August  1, 1900,  printed  the  following  union 
items : 

"The  Cargo  Boats'  Union  has  2,000 
sailors  as  members  who  work  on  500  boats. 
The  owners  of  boats  supply  medical  and 
some  benefit  funds. 

"Sangiyo  Kumiai  is  the  name  of  the 
dockers'  union  in  the  Bay  of  Tokyo  and 
has  a  membership  of  400. 

"There  are  two  unions  for  men  who 
work  in  the  wharfs  with  a  total  member- 
ship of  1,800. 

"There  are  two  dockers'  unions  besides 
Sangiyo  Kumiai,  one  consisting  of  work- 
ers on  ship-board  and  the  other  on  the 
wharfs.  The  former  has  3,000  members 
and  the  latter  1,000." 

This  shows  that  the  labor  movement  was 
then  well  advertised  throughout  the  coun- 
try and  that  the  workers  in  every  trade  felt 
the  need  of  having  their  own  union. 


A  PERIOD  OF  SUCCESS  53 

The  Printers '  Union  of  Tokyo  attempted 
to  work  out  its  own  problems  by  different 
tactics  than  those  employed  by  the  iron 
and  railway  workers.  From  its  very  in- 
ception this  union  advocated  the  so-called 
identity  of  interests  of  capital  and  labor. 
To>  clearly  illustrate  its  attitude: 

The  union  elected  Mr.  Soburo  Shimada, 
M.  P.,  as  its  president,  because  they  con- 
sidered him  a  friend  of  both  capital  and 
labor.  The  Printers'  Union  adopted  this 
policy  in  order  to  accomplish  its  ends  and 
in  fact,  they  received  the  ardent  support 
of  the  professors  of  the  Imperial  Univers- 
ity of  Tokyo.  They  were  even  given  a 
splendid  feast  on  the  celebration  of  the 
founding  of  the  Printers'  Union  on  No- 
vember 3,  1899,  at  the  Tokyo  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
Hall.  This  union  claimed  to  have  a  mem- 
bership of  2,000. 

At  this  time  the  university  professors 
and  their  followers,  encouraged  by  the 
friendly  attitude  toward  them  of  the  Print- 
ers'  Union,  inaugurated  a  sort  of  social 


54          THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

reform  movement  under  the  name  of  Social 
Reformism.  These  university  men  were 
influenced  largely  by  German  ideas.  They 
advocated  pure  and  simple  reforms,  based 
on  the  present  capitalist  society.  With 
them  we  held  heated  discussions  at  public 
meetings  and  also  in  the  pages  of  the 
magazines.  The  majority  of  the  workers 
sided  with  the  attitude  taken  by  the  Iron 
Workers'  Union  and  the  editors  of  the 
Labor  World. 

From  the  beginning  of  the  year  1899, 
the  Labor  World  had  been  giving  a  special 
column  in  every  issue  to  the  discussion  of 
Socialism.  Before  that  time  it  had,  from 
time  to  time,  reported  events  in  the  Social- 
ist movement  abroad,  but  now  we  thought 
it  time  to  educate  the  workers  on  the  aims 
and  principles  of  Socialism. 

In  November  of  the  same  year  there  had 
appeared  in  Osaka  a  labor  paper  called 
The  Osaka  Weekly.  It  advocated  Social- 
ism outright  as  the  only  solution  of  the 
labor  problems.  It  was  owned  and  edited 


A  PERIOD  OF  SUCCESS  55 

by  Mr.  Kentaro  Oi,  the  veteran  of  a  prom- 
inent liberal  movement  before  1890,  when 
the  liberals  were  demanding  a  national 
constitution  and  a  parliament.  But  the 
Osaka  Weekly  failed  soon  on  account  of 
lack  of  means  and  support  from  the 
workers. 

Eighteen  hundred  and  ninety-nine  was 
very  prosperous  year  for  our  movement. 
I  made  two  trips  to  the  northeast  along 
the  Nippon  railway  lines,  first  in  the  spring 
and  again  in  the  autumn,  both  in  the  ca- 
pacity of  secretary  of  the  Iron  Workers' 
Union,  with  gratifying  success.  Every 
branch  of  the  Iron  Workers'  Union  was  in 
the  best  condition  and  there  was  little  or 
no  trouble  for  the  labor  movement.  In 
Tokyo  a  Cooks'  Union  and  in  Yokohama  a 
Furniture  Makers'  Union  were  organized 
during  that  year  under  the  direct  auspices 
of  the  Labor  World  and  its  editor. 

SOCIALISM  A  POPULAR  POLICY  OF  THE  DAY. 

The  vear  nineteen  hundred  dawned  with 


56          THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

even  brighter  prospects  for  the  Socialist 
and  labor  movement  of  Japan.  The  pub- 
lic in  general  had  become  very  much  inter- 
ested in  Socialism  and  especially  in  social 
reform.  Count  Itagaki,  the  founder  of 
the  liberal  movement  in  Japan  and  one  of 
the  leaders  in  the  revolution  of  1866, 
founded  a  reform  club  called  the  Doki 
Club,  based  on  Socialist  principles.  At 
the  cities  of  Wakayama  and  Omiya,  both 
industrial  cities,  a  labor  club  was  estab- 
lished for  the  education  and  amusement  of 
the  workers.  Dr.  Ukichi  Taguchi,  M.  P., 
editor  and  proprietor  of  the  Tokyo 
Economist,  who  is  a  recognized  leader  of 
the  school  of  "laissez  faire"  economists, 
came  out  as  an  ardent  advocate  of  the 
principles  of  the  single  tax  and  severely 
attacked  the  landlords. 

The  rising  interest  in  and  the  eager  dis- 
cussion of  social  reforms  came  at  this  time 
as  a  reaction  to  capitalist  injustices  and 
the  utter  cruelty  of  the  capitalist  classes 


A  PERIOD  OF  SUCCESS  57 

toward  workingmen  and  women.  To  give 
a  few  examples : 

In  June,  1899,  at  the  Hokoku  Colliery, 
Kiushiu,  207  miners  were  buried  alive  and 
permitted  to  be  burned  to  death  in  order  to 
save  the  mining  properties.  A  little  later 
thirty-one  young  spinning  girls  were 
burned  to  death  in  a  dormitory  of  the 
spinning  company.  After  working  sixteen 
hours  a  day  these  girls  are  locked  up  in 
the  dormitories,  to  which  doors  and  win- 
dows are  fastened  on  the  outside  to  pre- 
vent the  girls  from  escaping  from  their 
jobs.  When  the  fire  broke  out  at  one 
o  'clock  in  the  dormitory  where  the  tragedy 
occurred,  the  poor  worn-out  girls  were  un- 
able to  escape.  Those  who  jumped  from 
the  windows  were  maimed  or  killed  and 
the  others  were  all  burned  to  death.  Again 
forty  workmen  were  killed  on  the  Nippon 
E.  E.  line  on  account  of  the  utter  neglect 
in  supervising  the  bridge  at  Howoki. 

These  and  many  other  disasters  occur- 
ring in  various  industries  throughout  the 


58          THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

country  awakened  the  public  into  a  con- 
scious or  unconscious  indignation.  These 
joined  in  protest  against  capitalist  brutal- 
ities. Consequently  the  policy  adopted  by 
the  Labor  World  were  largely  approved 
by  the  public. 

PUBLIC   PEACE  POLICE  LAW. 

In  the  spring  session  of  the  Imperial 
Diet,  1900,  a  bill  was  passed  and  enacted 
immediately.  The  law  is  entitled  the 
Public  Peace  Police  Law.  It  proved  to  be 
the  death  knell  to  all  phases  of  the  labor 
movement,  because  it  prevented  the  work- 
ing class  from  organizing  themselves  into 
unions.  The  law  practically  prohibits  the 
industrial  working  classes  as  well  as  the 
tenant  farmers  from  agitating  in  their  own 
interests  and  against  the  employers  and 
landlords. 

To  attempt  to  enlist  others  in  a  move- 
ment to  raise  wages,  shorten  hours  of 
labor  or  to  lower  land  rents  was  declared 
a  crime  against  the  peace  and  order  of 


A  PERIOD  OF  SUCCESS  59 

society.  And  later  the  law  was  inter- 
preted to  mean  that  all  labor  movements 
were  a  crime! 

In  the  same  session  a  co-operative  law 
was  voted  upon.  But  on  account  of  the 
Public  Peace  Police  Law  the  workers  were 
never  able  to  utilize  the  co-operative  law. 

The  very  oppressive  features  of  the 
Police  Law  against  the  working  classes 
caused  these  classes  and  their  friends  to 
feel  an  urgent  need  of  obtaining  universal 
suffrage  in  Japan.  With  this  purpose  we 
organized  an  Association  for  Universal 
Suffrage.  Many  prominent  men  came  into 
the  association.  The  Tokyo  Barbers' 
Union  and  the  Nippon  R.  E.  Workers' 
Union  joined.  But  all  the  suffrage  move- 
ment ever  achieved  was  the  passage  of  a 
Universal  Suffrage  Bill  in  the  lower  house. 
The  bill  was  killed  in  the  House  of  Peers. 

Meanwhile,  we  preached  Socialism  at 
the  workingmen's  meetings,  perhaps  with 
more  zeal  and  enthusiasm  than  we  showed 
for  trade  unionism,  and  this  was  alto- 


60  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

gether  a  new  subject,  although  at  the 
same  time  the  'Oppressive  measures 
against  the  working  class  adopted  by  the 
government  gave  our  cause  a  great  and 
convincing  impetus.  These  measures  im- 
pelled us  to  agitate  among  these  workers 
for  Socialist  politics. 

There  was  then  more  freedom  of  speech 
for  labor  and  Socialist  politics  at  public 
meetings  than  there  was  freedom  on  the 
subject  of  trade  unions,  strikes  and  the 
boycott,  since  the  latter  were  directly 
concerned  with  the  existing  industries  of 
the  country.  This  being  the  situation  we 
gradually  educated  the  Japanese  workers 
in  Socialism  for  several  years.  The  follow- 
ing was  perhaps  the  first  direct  result  of 
our  propaganda. 

The  Nippon  E.  E.  Workers '  Union,  at  its 
annual  meeting,  held  in  the  city  Mito,  in 
March,  1901,  voted  a  resolution  proclaim- 
ing that  Socialism  is  the  only  ultimate  so- 
lution of  the  labor  problems,  and  in- 


A  PEKIOD  OF  SUCCESS  61 

stmcted  its   executive  committee  to  join 
the  Universal  Suffrage  movement. 

SOCIAL,   DEMOCEATIC   PARTY. 

The  clear  stand  on  Socialism  taken  by 
the  Nippon  E.  R.  Workers'  Union  in  this 
resolution  and  many  other  signs  of  the 
times  convinced  us  that  our  workers  were 
fairly  well  prepared  for  political  action,  so 
on  May  20th,  1901,  after  deliberation  and 
consultation  at  the  headquarters  of  the 
Iron  Workers'  Union  for  a  few  weeks,  we 
formed  a  Socialist  party  which  we  called 
the  Social  Democratic  Party.  At  the  same 
time  we  published  a  Socialist  Manifesto 
and  a  Party  Platform.  The  original  mem- 
bers of  the  party  were :  D.  Kotoku,  I.  Abe, 
N.  Kinoshita,  K.  Kawakami,  K.  Nishikawa 
and  myself. 

Our  Manifesto  was  printed  in  four  daily 
papers  and  in  the  Labor  World  at  Tokyo 
and  in  one  country  daily.  The  party  was 
suppressed  by  the  government.  But  for  the 
first  time  Socialism  was  widely  advertised, 


62          THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN    • 

making  a  very  strong  impression  on  the 
people  because  of  the  widespread  publicity 
given  our  Manifesto  in  the  four  big  Tokyo 
dailies.  The  trials  of  the  editors  who  pub- 
lished the  Manifesto  in  their  respective 
papers  gave  the  subject  still  further  pub- 
licity thruout  the  country. 

With  this  splendid  advertising  of  Social- 
ism to  encourage  them,  the  six  members  of 
the  suppressed  Social  Democratic  Party 
turned  their  energies  into  a  Socialist  edu- 
cational and  propaganda  campaign  with 
increased  vigor  and  enthusiasm. 

We  formed  a  non-political  organization, 
called  Shakai  Shugi  Kyokai  (Socialist  As- 
sociation). Under  this  name  we  held  So- 
cialist meetings,  of  course,  charging  ad- 
mission. Slowly  but  steadily  our  members 
increased  and  soon  these  began  to  take  part 
in  the  meetings. 

At  the  time  that  propaganda  for  a  pure 
and  simple  trade  union  movement  was 
more  and  more  severely  dealt  with  by  the 
authorities,  our  labor  politics  and  Socialist 


A  PERIOD  OF  SUCCESS  63 

agitation  had  comparative  freedom  and 
was  rather  popular  among  the  people.  The 
Niroku,  a  penny  daily,  published  a  series 
of  articles  on  Socialism  which  lasted  for 
two  weeks.  The  articles  were  written  by 
Comrade  Isowa  Abe,  one  of  the  founders 
of  the  Social  Democratic  Party. 

Even  the  big  bourgeois  dailies  like  the 
Jiji,  gave  us  notices  for  our  Socialist 
meetings  while  others  mentioned  these  in 
their  news  columns.  This  apparently 
friendly  attitude  of  the  press  in  general, 
tho  it  may  have  been  based  on  business 
motives  and  a  desire  for  greater  circula- 
tion, nevertheless  helped  us  much  in  our 
propaganda.  To  give  one  instance: 

With  the  co-operation  of  the  Iron 
Workers'  Union,  whose  secretary  I  was, 
the  said  Niroku,  whose  owner  and  man- 
ager was  a  personal  friend  of  mine,  an- 
nounced in  its  columns  a  working  men's 
social  meeting,  to  be  held  at  Mukoshima 
Park  on  the  3rd  of  April,  1901,  one  of  the 
four  Japanese  national  holidays.  To  this 


64          THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

meeting  some  fifty  thousand  workingmen 
applied  for  admission,  paying  a  fee  of  20 
sen.  Six  thousand  members  of  the  Iron 
Workers  were  enlisted.  The  gathering 
was  announced  prohibited  by  the  govern- 
ment, but  the  Niroku  insisted  on  holding 
the  meeting  and,  after  much  discussion, 
the  government  consented  to  permit  a 
meeting  of  not  over  five  thousand  persons. 
The  government  claimed  that  it  could  not 
muster  over  five  thousand  police  and 
could  not,  for  this  reason,  permit  a  larger 
attendance  at  the  park. 

Niroku  devised  a  scheme  to  meet  the 
situation  by  announcing  that  the  number 
admitted  would  be  limited  to>  five  thou- 
sand— first  come  first  served.  Every  one 
of  the  fifty  thousand  wanted  to  be  one  of 
the  first-comers. 

This  was  an  exciting  day  in  the  history 
of  the  labor  movement.  Many  came  to  the 
park  the  previous  evening  and  remained 
there  all  night.  When  morning  came  there 
were  alreadv  more  than  the  allotted  num- 


A  PERIOD  OF  SUCCESS  65 

ber  present  and  when  the  meeting  opened 
there  were  from  thirty  to  forty  thousand 
people  present. 

The  police  force  was  powerless  before 
the  peaceful  mass  demonstration.  The 
assemblage  voted  a  resolution  demanding 
a  factory  law,  universal  suffrage,  and 
made  other  demands.  The  meeting  was 
a  great  success  in  every  way.  It  seemed 
that  for  that  day  at  least  the  working 
classes  of  Japan  realized  their  own  power. 
This  meeting  was  followed  by  other  meet- 
ings thruout  Japan  in  the  course  of  a 
month  or  so.  But  the  government  deemed 
these  dangerous  to  the  country,  for  never 
again  to  this  very  day  has  it  permitted  the 
holding  of  vast  meetings.  It  must  indeed 
have  felt  itself  powerless  before  the  mass 
action  of  the  working  class! 

Immediately  after  the  suppression  of 
the  Social  Democratic  Party,  the  Yorozu, 
a  popular  daily  paper  in  Tokyo,  started 
to  organize  a  party.  It  was  called  the 
Ideal  Association  (Bisodan),  a  sort  of  lib- 


66          THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

eral  reform  club  containing  a  great  part 
of  the  Socialist  program.  In  the  Yorozu 
Comrades  Kotoku  and  Sakai  were  the 
principal  writers.  The  public  was  under 
the  impression  that  the  Yorozu  would  take 
up  the  work  of  the  suppressed  Social 
Democratic  Party,  but  after  a  few  years 
this  expectation  died  out. 

When  the  war  with  Russia  became  im- 
minent in  the  autumn  of  1903,  the  Yorozu 
assumed  an  extreme  jingoistic  stand, 
which  caused  Comrades  Kotoku  and  Sakai 
to  leave  the  daily. 

The  growing  interest  in  the  Socialist 
movement  shown  by  the  success  of  meet- 
ings and  the  increased  circulation  of  the 
Labor  World,  made  us  feel  the  necessity 
of  enlarging  the  paper  and  in  the  summer 
of  1901,  we  announced  that  it  would  be 
changed  into  a  daily  with  the  issue  of  the 
coming  December  number,  which  would 
be  the  last  of  the  first  one  hundred  issues 
which  had  appeared.  The  paper  had  been 
a  bimonthly. 


A  PERIOD  OF  SUCCESS  67 

With  this  end  in  view  we  asked  the 
workers  to  pay  one  year  subscription  in 
advance,  Y  2.40.  Our  request  met  with 
ready  response  and  we  received  a  large 
number  of  subscriptions  in  advance. 
After  about  eight  months  of  preparation, 
on  January  1st,  1902,  we  sent  out  the  first 
number  of  the  first  Socialist  daily  paper 
appearing  in  Japan. 

The  free  use  of  the  Iron  Workers' 
Headquarters  was  given  us,  the  second 
floor  being  given  over  to  editorial  and 
composing  rooms.  Our  office  occupied  the 
first  floor  front  and  in  the  back  rooms  the 
paper  was  printed.  The  daily  was  chiefly 
supported  by  the  working  class.  Com- 
rades Abe,  Kotoku,  Kawakami,  Kinoshita 
and  many  others  helped  by  contributing 
articles.  Financially  I  was  wholly  re- 
sponsible for  the  paper.  It  cost  just  one 
thousand  dollars  to  get  types,  machines 
and  other  necessary  equipment. 

The  paper  came  out  for  just  two 
months.  At  that  time  the  city  newsdeal- 


68 


ers  (twenty-one)  monopolized  the  entire 
business  of  selling  and  distributing  papers 
and  they  wanted  to  charge  outrageously 
high  prices  for  our  paper,  so  that  it  was 
utterly  impossible  for  us  to  place  the  pa- 
per at  the  door  of  each  subscriber  every 
morning.  Moreover,  the  lack  of  business 
experience  more  than  anything  else  caused 
us  many  difficulties  in  spite  of  the  hearty 
sympathy  and  support  of  the  working 
class,  particularly  of  the  Iron  Workers' 
Union. 

Besides  my  own  health  was  broken 
down  on  account  of  overwork  and  I  had 
to  seek  a  warmer  climate  than  chilly 
Tokyo  to  regain  it.  These  circumstances 
compelled  us  to  give  up  the  daily  with 
great  loss  to  me  and  to  the  cause  of  labor 
and  of  Socialism.  We  thought  it  best  to 
cease  publication  at  once  and  to  continue 
the  propaganda  work  in  some  form  in  or- 
der to  renew  publication  in  the  near  fu- 
ture. 


in. 

SOCIALISM  A  POPULAR  TOPIC. 

The  years  1902  and  1903  were  the  most 
prosperous  period  for  the  combined  ac- 
tivities of  the  labor  and  socialist  move- 
ment in  Japan.  Socialism  was  then  a 
very  popular  topic  of  study  and  discus- 
sion in  public.  Industrial  depressions 
that  followed  for  many  years,  after  the 
wild  boom  that  ruled  the  industrial  and 
commercial  world  during  the  sudden  in- 
flux of  a  vast  amount  of  war  indemnity 
taken  from  China,  were  almost  overcome. 
The  long  expected  prosperity  had  not  yet 
returned  because  for  some  time  threaten- 
ing clouds  were  hanging  over  the  Hermit 
Kingdom  (Corea),  the  domination  of 
which  had  been  a  constant  issue  between 
Russia  and  Japan  for  many  years  since 
China  had  been  defeated  by  Japan. 

But  financial  conditions  were  better 
than  for  many  years  and  the  industrial 
69 


70          THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

situation  was  on  a  firm  basis.  These  and 
other  circumstances  favored  our  labor 
and  socialist  agitation  among  the  work- 
ers ;  and  the  general  public  was  then  very 
eager  to  listen  to  and  discuss  socialism. 

During  those  two  years  of  activity  we 
had  made  several  extensive  propaganda 
tours  all  over  the  country.  We  made 
trips  to  the  country  in  groups  of  two  to 
five  comrades  and  I  always  was  one  of 
them.  Expenses  were  met  by  admissions 
and  selling  of  the  Labor  World  and  so- 
cialist books. 

After  the  failure  of  the  socialist  daily, 
the  Labor  World  was  again  published, 
starting  April  3,  1902,  in  a  much  im- 
proved magazine  form  and  came  out 
fortnightly.  Our  socialist  movement 
naturally  centered  around  the  Labor 
World  in  the  editorial  work  of  which  I 
was  assisted  by  two  or  three  comrades, 
including  Comrade  Nishikawa.  Besides, 
Comrades  Abe,  Kotoku,  Kinoshita,  Sakai 
and  others  contributed  articles  to  the  pa- 


SOCIALISM  A  POPULAR  TOPIC  71 

per  on  socialism  and  social  questions. 
Not  only  that,  Comrade  Kotoku  also 
wrote  a  life  history  of  Ferdinand  Las- 
salle  for  the  Labor  World;  Comrade 
Sakai  translated  the  main  part  of  ''La- 
bor" by  Emile  Zola;  Comrade  Kotsuka 
translated  "Merrie  England",  and  all  of 
these  appeared  in  the  Labor  World  in  the 
course  of  two  years.  Moreover,  we  pub- 
lished a  complete  review  of  a  book  on  Mil- 
lerand's  work  and  Emile  Vandervelde 's  In- 
dustrial Revolution. 

Socialism  and  the  labor  movement  be- 
come popular.  This  is  shown  by  the  very 
fact  that  the  editors  of  the  Labor  World 
interviewed  many  prominent  persons, 
statesmen,  scholars  and  business  men  on 
the  labor  questions  and  on  socialism. 
It  is  now  amusing  to  look  into  the  col- 
umns of  the  old  Labor  World  and  to  no- 
tice how  those  men,  who  today  are  the 
deadly  opponents  of  socialism,  who  are 
condemning  socialist  activities,  at  that 
time  approved  socialism  and  gave  their 


72  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

own  reasons  for  it.  Some  even  expressed 
themselves  as  being  already  socialists. 
We  will  quote  here  a  few  of  the  inter- 
views that  appeared  in  the  Labor  World 
in  1902  and  1903. 

When  I  called  on  him  for  his  opinion 
on  socialism,  Marquis  Okuma,  late  Pre- 
mier, told  me  that  "from  olden  times  the 
ideals  of  our  statesmen  appear  to  have 
been  a  national  socialism,"  and  the  old 
Marquis  went  on  to  give  historical  facts. 
During  the  Tokugawa  rule  Japan's  own 
socialism  was  realized,  when  lyeyasu,  the 
first  ruler  of  the  Tokugawa  Dynasty,  pro- 
hibited the  capitalization  of  land,  fixed 
the  wages  of  labor  by  law.  Some  of  the 
feudal  lords,  in  particular  those  of  Kaga, 
ordered  the  landlords  within  his  own 
province  to  release  land  rents  for  three 
consecutive  periods  of  ten  years  each,  and 
finally  the  tenants  acquired  their  own 
land  when  the  revolution  of  1868  was  suc- 
cessful. 

At    one    time    the    feudal    government 


SOCIALISM  A  POPULAR  TOPIC  73 

abolished  the  creditors'  lawsuits  against 
debtors.  We  know  that  occasionally  the 
government  ordered  the  people  to  cancel 
all  the  debts  contracted. 

Mr.  Genichiro  Fukuchi,  a  noted  his- 
torian and  savant,  said  to  the  editor  of 
the  Labor  World,  "  Japan's  Kokutai  (Na- 
tional Constitution)  is  really  socialism. 
A  person  who  lives  from  another's  labor 
is  looked  upon  as  a  criminal,  according  to 
the  fundamental  national  ideas.  One  who 
lives  from  the  labor  of  others  is  con- 
demned and  punished  just  like  a  gambler 
and  thief.  Labor  is  the  ideal  of  Japan. 
Isn't  this  socialism?" 

Prof.  Kenzo  "Wadagaki  of  the  Imperial 
University  said  ''Japan  as  a  nation  is  so- 
cialistic. The  Japanese  are  of  socialistic 
character."  Mr.  Rokwa  Tokutomi,  one 
of  the  greatest  novelists  of  modern  Japan, 
wrote  a  socialistic  political  novel,  Kuro- 
shio  (Monsoon)  that  shocked  the  very 
foundation  of  the  bureaucratic  regime. 
The  book  appeared  in  1899  and  the  writer 


74          THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

says  to  the  editor  of  the  Labor  World:  "I 
believe  in  socialism  and  preach  it.  Today 
one  who  says  that  he  does  not  believe  in 
socialism  or  is  afraid  of  preaching  it  is 
one  who  cares  for  his  position,  seeks  his 
own  property,  and  longs  after  his  own 
promotion.  One  who  says  he  can't  un- 
derstand socialism  or  can't  believe  it  is 
not  a  man  but  is  either  a  fool  or  insane." 

Prof.  Inazo  Nitobe  of  the  Imperial 
University,  when  he  was  interviewed  by 
the  writer  in  the  summer  of  1902,  said 
that  he  was  a  good  socialist  and  pro- 
ceeded to  declare  that  after  the  trusts, 
the  so-called  social  democracy  of  Marx 
will  be  established  in  the  sphere  of  econ- 
omy. ' '  Socialists  shall  then  rule  the  world 
so  that  the  greatest  number  of  human 
beings  will  enjoy  a  happy  life.  I  be- 
came a  socialist  while  I  was  in  America 
three  years  and  ever  since  my  belief  in 
socialism  has  been  growing  stronger. 
The  ideal  of  humanity  is  in  socialism." 

This  firm  believer  in  socialism  and  a 


SOCIALISM  A  POPULAR  TOPIC  75 

socialist  future  in  1902  was  Prof,  Inazo 
Nitobe,  the  noted  author  of  "Bushido." 
The  same  professor  lately  has  been  faith- 
fully serving  the  bureaucracy  and  is  at- 
tacking socialism  and  socialists  as  being 
detrimental  to  the  interests  of  the  coun- 
try. Some  of  his  old  pupils  were  influ- 
enced by  Prof.  Nitobe  to  give  up  social- 
ism. One  of  these  is  Mr.  K.  Nishikawa, 
who  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  social 
democratic  party.  It  might  look  as  if 
these  men  had  expressed  mere  phrases 
to  the  editors  of  the  Labor  World,  but 
the  printed  pages  of  the  Labor  World 
will  attest  the  fact  that  socialists  were 
not  outcast  then  and  socialism  was  not 
prohibited  in  Japan  at  that  period  as  it  is 
now. 

For  the  time  the  progress  of  the  so- 
cialist movement  went  on  very  smoothly 
and  we  had  not  only  the  sympathy  of 
prominent  persons,  who  approved  social- 
ism and  its  movement,  but  also  we  gained 
a  very  strong  and  prominent  socialist  in 


76          THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

Mr.  Fumio  Yano.  In  the  summer  of 
1902  Mr.  Fumio  Yano  declared  himself 
a  socialist  and  gave  us  many  lectures  on 
socialism.  He  went  with  us  several  times 
during  this  period  for  socialist  propa- 
ganda. Mr.  Yano  was  an  old  liberal 
statesman  and  an  influential  agitator  for 
the  constitutional  government  in  the 
eighties.  But  he  left  the  liberal  party 
because  the  party  became  too  corrupt. 

In  1882  Mr.  Yano  wrote  a  book  about 
a  group  of  youths  who  brought  about  the 
Theban  Hegemony.  This  book  served 
the  cause  of  the  liberal  movement  in 
Japan.  Half  a  million  copies  were  sold 
and  he  became  a  well  known  writer  and 
thinker.  Now  this  author  came  out  as  a 
socialist  and  went  with  us  in  the  common 
cause  for  socialism.  Mr.  Yano  was  not 
only  in  the  active  propaganda  work,  but 
he  wrote  a  book  called  "New  Society". 
It  is  largely  original  and  is  well  written, 
working  out  the  problems  of  modern  so- 
cialism thoroughly.  He  took  the  best 


SOCIALISM  A  POPULAR  TOPIC  77 

there  was  of  Utopian  socialism  and  elab- 
orated on  the  way  to  convert  Japan  into 
a  socialist  state.  He  showed  the  most 
skill  in  picturing  the  transition  stage 
from  the  present  capitalist  state  to  a  so- 
cialist state,  adjusted  admirably  every 
phase  of  society  and  international  rela- 
tions under  socialism.  These  two  prob- 
lems the  author  considered  his  own  con- 
tribution to  the  literature  of  Utopian  so- 
cialism as  represented  by  More  and  Bel- 
lamy, t 

The  New  Society  at  once  became  very 
popular  in  the  country.  Several  hundred 
thousands  of  copies  were  sold  in  a  few 
months. 

The  Labor  World  records  our  socialist 
activities  in  1902,  beginning  with  April 
3rd.  We  held  sixty-seven  public  meet- 
ings in  1903,  one  hundred  and  eighty-two 
altogether,  in  nineteen  months — 182  meet- 
ings. Besides  those  meetings  there  must 
have  been  many  meetings  held  by  other 
comrades  in  the  country. 


78          THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

During  this  period  we  made  several 
propaganda  tours  into'  the  country.  In 
the  summer  of  1902  three  of  us  went  to 
the  northeast  along  the  Nippon  railroad 
for  fifteen  days  to  hold  thirteen  meetings 
in  twelve  cities  scattered  in  over  a  dis- 
tance of  500  miles.  In  January,  1903,  two 
of  us  made  a  trip  to  western  cities,  trav- 
eling over  400  miles  and  held  meetings  at 
Kiyoto,  Osaka,  Kobe,  Hiroshima  and 
Kure.  In  the  summer  of  the  same  year 
from  July  4th  to>  September  5th,  three 
and  part  of  the  time  four  of  us  made  an  ex- 
tensive trip  to  Shikoku,  Kushiu  Islands, 
covering  eleven  provinces  and  twenty-one 
cities  in  which  we  held  twenty-six  meet- 
ings. Many  short  trips  were  made  from 
time  to  time.  The  propaganda  was  self- 
supporting  and  the  Labor  World  got  a 
very  good  advertisement  from  them. 

As  to  the  organized  work  of  o<ur  so- 
cialist movement,  we  were  prohibited 
from  organizing  politically,  so  the  social- 
ist association  was  our  only  organization. 


SOCIALISM  A  POPULAR  TOPIC  79 

It  had  a  few  branches  in  the  principal 
cities.  Our  work,  therefore,  was  neces- 
sarily limited  to  education  and  propagan- 
da. But  in  the  sphere  of  the  working 
classes  we  had  a  very  strong  influence, 
especially  among  colliery  workers.  In 
Ubari,  Hokkaido,  we  had  a  very  good 
organization.  There  were,  however,  only 
a  few  socialists  who  were  the  moving 
spirits  of  the  organization. 

Miners  of  Japan  have  been  historically 
considered  the  toughest  kind  of  workers, 
so  they  really  could  defy  the  public  peace 
police  law.  Our  agitators  could  more 
readily  gain  access  to  them  than  to  other 
factory,  railway  or  iron  workers.  This 
is  a  reason  why  we  were  able  to  organize 
the  miners  in  Asio  copper  mines  during 
the  late  Eusso-Japan  war.  Our  miners 
live  in  congested  barracks  like  rows  of 
sheds,  which  are  built  by  the  mining  com- 
pany. They  make  a  little  community  of 
their  own,  know  each  other  and  when 
working  underground  they  can  talk  to 


80          THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

each  other  freely  on  whatever  subject 
they  choose.  So  two  socialist  comrades, 
Minami  and  Tsuruoka,  were  able  to  or- 
ganize the  miners  at  Asio  copper  mines 
as  late  as  1904-7,  which  organization, 
however,  was  crushed  out  of  existence 
with  the  great  riots  in  February,  1907. 

Although  we  had  no  political  organiza- 
tion, being  deprived  of  that  right  two 
years  before,  yet  we  could  manage  to 
organize  the  socialists  of  the  country  in 
socialist  association  and  we  held  the  first 
national  socialist  conference  at  Osaka  on 
the  5th  and  6th  of  April,  1903.  Besides 
the  sittings  of  the  conference  at  Osaka 
Y.  M.  0.  A.  hall,  we  had  two-  big  public 
meetings  in  the  Municipal  Assembly  hall, 
the  largest  hall  in  the  whole  city.  Both 
meetings  were  well  attended  and  made  a 
very  good  impression  on  the  audience 
about  the  aims  of  socialism.  The  con- 
ference passed  by  unanimous  votes  the 
following  resolutions: 

1.    We,  the  socialists  of  Japan,  shall 


SOCIALISM  A  POPULAR  TOPIC  81 

exert  ourselves  in  the  effort  to  recon- 
struct human  society  on  the  basis  of  so- 
cialism. 

2.  We   must   endeavor   to   realize   so- 
cialism in  Japan. 

3.  To  reach  the  ultimate  goal  of  so- 
cialism it  is  necessary  to  have  a  united 
action  of  socialists  of  all  the  countries. 

Ten  thousand  leaflets  of  a  brief  social- 
ist manifesto  were  distributed  during  the 
conference  at  the  gates  of  the  national 
exposition  then  held  in  the  city. 

During  the  year  1903,  two  or  three 
events  marked  the  course  of  the  socialist 
movement  in  Japan  for  coming  years. 
One  was  the  attitude  of  Japanese  social- 
ists toward  war,  which  was  then  threat- 
ening in  the  far  east  between  Eussia  and 
Japan  over  the  domination  of  Korea.  We 
took  a  firm  stand  against  war  and  espe- 
cially against  the  war  with  Russia.  The 
first  great  socialist  anti-war  meeting  was 
held  at  Y.  M.  C.  A.  hall,  Tokyo,  on  the 
8th  of  October,  1903.  In  spite  of  a  strong 


82  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

opposition  from  jingo  parties,  the  meet- 
ing was  a  great  success.  This  meeting 
proved  to  be  the  very  first  declaration  of 
Japanese  socialists  against  the  coming 
war  and  its  spirit  and  the  tone  of  the 
speeches  were  prophetic  of  the  great 
strength  of  the  socialist  struggle  and  fight 
against  the  war  also  during  the  war. 

The  next  event  is  the  entering  into 
active  socialist  propaganda  work  by  two 
comrades — Kotoku  and  Sakai,  who  gave 
up  their  editorial  positions  in  the  Yorozu, 
and  devoted  their  entire  time  to  the  cause 
of  socialism.  This  decisive  moment  came 
to  them  through  two  causes,  first  the 
popular  daily,  Yorozu,  in  the  columns  of 
which  they  had  taught  socialism  for  sev- 
eral years  with  the  full  approval  and  sym- 
pathy of  the  proprietor  Kuroiwa,  became 
ultra-jingoistic  and  a  conflict  resulted  be- 
tween the  proprietor  and  the  two  com- 
rades. Of  course  the  latter  had  to  leave 
the  daily.  The  entering  of  these  two 
comrades  into  the  active  socialist  work 


SOCIALISM  A  POPULAR  TOPIC  83 

was  destined  to  shape  largely  the  course 
of  the  Japanese  socialist  movement  in  the 
future. 

In  November,  I  made  a  short  trip  to 
Hokkaido,  passing  through  the  northeast 
province  and  visited  Ubari  colliery 
where  we  had  a  miners'  union  under  so- 
cialist leaders.  This  was  my  last  labor 
propaganda  work  in  that  year,  for  I  left 
in  December  for  the  United  States  on  my 
way  to  attend  the  coming  International 
Socialist  Congress  at  Amsterdam,  Hol- 
land, the  following  August,  1904. 

Our  socialist  movement  so  far  preached 
socialism  more  exclusively  among  the 
working  class  and  our  meetings  were 
largely  attended  by  workers  and  support- 
ed by  them.  I  have  been  always  in  touch 
with  the  workers  of  the  country,  because 
I  had  served  as  a  secretary  to  the  iron 
workers'  union  since  its  organization  in 
1897,  up  to  that  time,  1903,  and  had  been 
making  an  occasional  trip  to  the  different 
branches.  My  personal  acquaintance  with 


84          THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

many  workers  and  their  families  brought 
me  many  pleasant  experiences  and  also 
support  for  the  socialist  movement  long 
after  the  union  died  and  they  were  no 
longer  members  of  it.  This  being  the  case, 
our  socialist  movement  never  lost  sight  of 
the  labor  cause  and  of  the  interest  of  the 
working  classes,  who  are  naturally  in- 
clined to  work  out  problems  in  practice, 
which  as  a  rule  is  a  rather  slow  process. 
Consequently,  I  never  went  to  extremes  in 
views  or  in  tactics,  but  our  movement  was 
not  dominated  by  intellectualism. 


IV. 

THE    SOCIALIST   MOVEMENT   AND 
THE  EUSSO-JAPANESE  WAR. 

In  spite  of  the  stern  suppression  by  the 
government  of  our  political  organization, 
Japanese  socialists  now  fought  against 
war  for  two  years.  The  anti-war  propa- 
ganda began  on  the  8th  of  October,  1903, 
when  the  hegemony  over  Corea  was  a 
burning  question  between  Russia  and  Ja- 
pan. Our  leaders  in  this  difficult  task 
were,  of  course,  Comrades  Kotoku  and 
Sakai,  who  sacrificed  their  position  on  ac- 
count of  their  socialist  views  on  the  war. 

In  November,  1903,  the  comrades  in 
question  started  a  socialist  weekly  called 
The  Heimin"  at  Tokyo,  making  it  an  or- 
gan of  the  fight  against  the  war.  From 
the  start  Comrades  Kotuku  and  Sakai 
frankly  and  expressly  declared  that  they 
intended  to  make  the  weekly  Heimin  a 
means  to  support  themselves  and  an  en- 
85 


86          THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

deavor  to  support  many  others  in  the  fu- 
ture. The  Heimin  was  a  propaganda  pa- 
per and  at  the  same  time  a  socialist  busi- 
ness enterprise,  a  combination  attempted 
for  the  first  time  in  Japan.  It  was  also 
our  socialist  organ. 

In  editing  the  weekly  the  said  two  com- 
rades were  aided  by  other  comrades  like 
I.  Abe,  N.  Kinoshita,  I.  Kato,  J.  Saji. 
Later  Nishikawa,  Ishikawa  and  a  few 
others  joined  in  the  work.  I,  too,  contrib- 
uted articles  from  abroad. 

Around  the  weekly  Heimin,  comrades 
who  were  in  active  propaganda  gathered 
together,  holding  public  meetings  from 
time  to  time  in  cities  and  in  the  country. 
They  also  started  to  study  socialism  seri- 
ously in  meetings  every  week  at  the  head- 
quarters of  the  Heimin.  Soon  several 
ladies  joined  in  the  work,  and  meetings  for 
socialist  women  were  held  once  a  month, 
separately,  because  ladies  are  prohibited 
from  attending  any  political  meeting.  By 
this  time  the  government  ruled  that  so- 


THE  SOCIALIST   MOVEMENT  87 

cialists  could  not  hold  a  meeting  without 
police  permission,  because  they  considered 
the  socialist  movement  a  political  move- 
ment Nevertheless,  they  did  not  allow 
us  to  form  openly  a  socialist  party.  There 
were  then  many  women  enlisted  in  the 
ranks  of  socialism. 

When  the  Russo-Japanese  war  broke  out 
our  comrades  redoubled  their  energy  to 
fight  for  an  early  peace.  On  the  20th  of 
March,  1904,  the  Japanese  socialists,  at 
their  meeting  assembled  in  Tokyo,  voted 
to  send  a  greeting  of  mutual  comradeship 
to  the  Russian  comrades.  Here  we  quote 
a  few  lines  which  will  show  its  spirit  and 
tone: 

"Dear  Comrades:  Your  government 
and  our  government  have  been  plunged 
into  fighting  at  last  in  order  to  satisfy 
their  imperialistic  desires,  but  to  the  so- 
cialists of  both  countries  there  is  no  bar- 
rier of  race,  territory  or  nationality.  We 
are  all  comrades,  brothers  and  sisters,  and 
have  no  reason  to  fight  each  other.  Your 


00          THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

enemy  is  not  the  Japanese  people  but  our 
militarism  and  so-called  patriotism.  Nor 
is  our  enemy  the  Russian  people,  but  your 
militarism  and  so-called  patriotism.  Pa- 
triotism and  militarism  are  our  common 
enemies;  nay,  all  socialists  in  the  world 
look  upon  them  as  common  enemies.  We 
socialists  must  fight  a  brave  battle  against 
them.  Here  is  the  best  and  most  impor- 
tant opportunity  for  us  now.  We  believe 
you  will  not  let  this  opportunity  pass. 
We,  too,  will  try  our  best.  But  permit  us 
to  say  a  few  words  more.  We  are  neither 
nihilists  nor  terrorists,  but  we  are  social 
Democrats.  We  object  absolutely  to  using 
military  force  in  our  fighting.  We  have 
to  fight  by  peaceful  means,  by  reason  and 
speech. 

"Dear  Comrades!  When  you  suffer  un- 
der the  oppression  of  your  government 
and  the  pursuit  of  cruel  detectives,  please 
remember  that  there  are  thousands  of 
comrades  in  a  distant  land,  who  are  pray- 


THE  SOCIALIST   MOVEMENT  89 

ing  for  your  health  and  success  with  the 
deepest  sympathy!" 

To  the  above  there  was  a  reply  from 
Russian  comrades  appearing  in  the 
Iskra:* 

"This  manifesto  is  a  document  of  his- 
toric significance.  If  we  Russian  Social 
Democrats  know  only  too  well  with  what 
difficulties  we  are  confronted  in  time  of 
war,  when  the  whole  machinery  of  govern- 
ment is  working  to  the  utmost  to  excite 
patriotism — difficulties  which  we  meet  at 
every  step,  notwithstanding  the  utter  un- 
popularity of  the  present  hazardous  ca- 
reer of  the  despairing  absolutism — we 
must  bear  in  mind  that  far  more  difficult 
and  embarrassing  is  the  position  of  our 
Japanese  comrades,  who,  at  the  moment 
when  national  feeling  was  at  its  highest 
pitch,  extended  their  hands  to  us. 

*•'  'Iskra,'  at  that  time  was  edited  by  Lenine,  so  this  com- 
ment on  the  Japanese  greeting  to  the  Russian  Socialists 
must  have  heen  written  by  Lenine  himself,"  said  Comrade 
Frederick  Rosin  who  took  a  part  in  the  revolution  of  1905 
with  Lenine  and  was  exiled  to  Siberia  for  life.  From  there 
he  escaped  to  America.  Comrade  Rosin  just  left  here  for 
Russia  by  way  of  Norway  to  join  the  revolutionary'  work 
in  Russia.  (August,  1917.) 


90          THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

"Amid  the  jingoistic  chorus  of  both 
countries,  their  voice  sounds  as  a  herald 
from  that  better  world,  which,  though  it 
exists  today  only  in  the  mind  of  the  class- 
conscious  proletariat,  will  become  a  real- 
ity tomorrow.  We  do  not  know  when  that 
' tomorrow'  will  come.  But  we,  the  Social 
Democrats  the  world  over,  are  all  working 
to  bring  it  nearer  and  nearer.  We  are 
digging  a  grave  for  the  miserable  today 
— the  present  social  order.  We  are  or- 
ganizing the  forces  which  will  finally 
bury  it. 

"Force  against  force,  violence  against 
violence!  And  in  saying  this  we  speak 
neither  as  nihilists  nor  as  terrorists.  But 
in  the  present  instance  this  question  is  of 
secondary  importance.  What  is  impor- 
tant for  us  is  the  feeling  of  solidarity, 
which  the  Japanese  comrades  have  ex- 
pressed in  their  message  to  us.  We  send 
them  a  hearty  greeting.  Down  with  mili- 
tarism! Hail  to  the  international  social 
democracy. ' ' 


THE  SOCIALIST   MOVEMENT  91 

The  weekly  Heimin  was  a  well  edited 
paper,  full  of  interesting  social  informa- 
tion on  socialist  activities  at  home  and 
abroad.  Socialism  was  presented  in  such 
a  way  that  the  student  class  were  influ- 
enced by  it  and,  in  fact,  many  students 
joined  the  socialist  movement,  awakened 
by  comrades,  many  of  whom  were  accus- 
tomed to  travel  through  the  country  to 
sell  socialist  books  and  get  subscriptions 
to  the  Heimin.  There  were  many  branches 
now  throughout  the  country.  A  branch 
office  of  the  weekly  Heimin  was  opened  by 
Comrade  Morichika  at  the  City  of  Osaka. 

Gradually  the  government  began  to 
adopt  very  drastic  measures  against  so- 
cialists, beginning  with  May,  1904.  The 
government's  charges  against  socialists 
were  two :  1.  The  anti-war  speeches  will 
kill  patriotism.  2.  Socialist  propaganda 
tries  to  break  up  the  system  of  caste,  and 
leads  often  to  criticism  of  the  Imperial 
Household.  Thereafter  the  police  dis- 
solved every  socialist  meeting,  but  the 


92          THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

comrades  held  as  many  as  they  could,  for 
they  got  an  increased  audience  at  each 
successive  meeting  on  account  of  police 
interference. 

At  the  regular  meeting  of  the  Socialist 
Association  in  June,  1904,  by  a  unanimous 
vote  of  members,  it  was  decided  to  ad- 
dress an  open  letter  to  the  comrades  in 
Europe  and  America;  and  also  to  present 
the  anti-war  resolution  to  the  coming  in- 
ternational socialist  congress,  at  Amster- 
dam the  following  August. 

In  the  course  of  a  few  months  the  week- 
ly Heimin,  besides  its  regular  issues,  pub- 
lished many  books.  The  most  popular 
and  largest  circulated  book  among  them 
was  ''Fire  Pillar",  a  novel  by  Comrade 
Kinoshita.  This  book  was  sold  in  over  ten 
editions  in  a  few  months  and  made  a  far 
greater  propaganda  than  that  of  Mr. 
Yano's  Shinshakai.  It  dealt  with  social- 
ism and  socialists  of  the  present  day.  It 
is  an  "Iron  Heel"  of  the  Japanese  social- 
ist literature. 


THE  SOCIALIST  MOVEMENT  93 

In  the  issue  of  August  27th,  the  weekly 
Heimin  published  a  translation  of  Count 
Leo  Tolstoi's  essay  on  the  Busso^  Japan 
"War,  published  in  the  London  Times  in 
June  27th,  1904.  This  gave  an  exalted 
tone  to  the  weekly  and  much  agitation. 
Our  comrades  were  still  more  encouraged 
in  the  anti-war  movement  by  a  letter  to  the 
Heimin  from  Count  Tolstoi. 

To  celebrate  the  first  anniversary  of  the 
founding  of  the  weekly  Heimin,  the  Japa- 
nese comrades  decided  to  translate  and 
publish  in  the  anniversary  number  the 
Communist  Manifesto.  The  translation 
appeared  on  the  13th  of  November.  It 
was  a  joint  translation  by  Comrades  Ko- 
toku  and  Sakai. 

The  issue  that  printed  the  Communist 
Manifesto  was  suppressed  by  the  govern- 
ment. But  the  paper  was  already  dis- 
tributed among  subscribers  so  we  had  ac- 
complished our  aim. 

The  year  1904  closed  with  two  public 
accusations  pending  for  trial.  The  one 


94  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

was  against  an  editorial — "To  the  Gram- 
mar School  Teachers",  and  the  other 
against  the  "Communist  Manifesto". 
During  the  year  socialist  propaganda  was 
carried  on  with  a  great  vigor  and  enthu- 
siasm in  spite  of  stern  censorship  and 
many  oppressive  measures  against  social- 
ists. This  is  shown  by  the  following  sta- 
tistics published  in  the  Heimin: 

Leaflets  for  the  socialist  propaganda 
distributed  during  the  year  numbered  39,- 
000.  The  Heimin  Library  published  8 
books  and  sold  altogether  15,700  copies. 
The  weekly  Heimin  sold  200,000  copies 
during  the  year.  Socialist  organizations 
established  in  11  cities  and  in  10  towns. 
There  were  8  public  accusations  against 
socialists.  During  the  year  120  socialist 
meetings  were  held,  of  these  13  were  wom- 
en's socialist  meetings.  There  were  then 
scores  of  worsen  comrades  who  took  act- 
ive part  in  the  movement. 

Our  comrades  had  learned  how  to  utilize 
legal  trials  in  the  court  for  our  propa- 


THE  SOCIALIST   MOVEMENT  95 

ganda  from  Lassalle  and  others.  The 
charge  against  Kotoku  and  Nishikawa 
was  tried  and  carried  to  the  highest  court 
and  finally  they  were  punished,  but  it 
took  fourteen  weeks  and  three  trials.  We 
could  propagate  socialism  in  the  court. 
What  was  said  on  trial  either  in  accusa- 
tion or  defense  in  the  court  could  be 
printed  without  molestation.  But  after- 
ward trials  of  socialists  were  mostly  car- 
ried on  in  closed  court  and  socialists  were 
never  allowed  to  come  out  of  prison  on 
bond.  As  the  result  of  the  trial,  Comrade 
Kotoku  got  five  months  with  a  fine  of  50 
yen  and  Mchikawa  seven  months  and  50 
yen  fine,  and  the  printing  presses  were 
also  confiscated,  the  charge  being  for  acts 
in  opposition  to  the  Imperial  constitution, 
and  finally  the  weekly  Heimin  was  entire- 
ly suppressed.  The  "Chokugen"  (straight 
word)  was  published  to  take  the  place  of 
the  Heimin. 

The  January  revolution  in  the  Russian 
capital  gave  a  thrilling  interest  and  im- 


96          THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

petus  to  the  Japanese  comrades  and  they 
attempted  to  preach  socialism  among  Rus- 
sian captives  in  Japan,  whose  number  in- 
creased with  the  fall  of  Port  Arthur.  The 
Weekly  from  time  to  time  informed  Rus- 
sian captives  about  the  revolutions  in  Rus- 
sia and  endeavored  to  distribute  socialist 
literature  among  them  sent  from  Europe 
and  America. 

On  May  16th,  1905,  socialists  of  Tokyo 
put  up  a  candidate  at  a  big  election  for  the 
Imperial  Diet.  Comrade  Kinoshita,  who 
ran  several  years  ago  at  Mayebashi  City 
as  a  socialist  candidate,  ran  again.  After 
a  very  lively  socialist  campaign,  he  got 
32  votes.  There  were  16,000  voters  in  the 
city  of  1,800,000  population. 

During  this  war  period  the  socialist 
movement  became  more  and  more  intel- 
lectual and  at  the  same  time  international 
on  account  of  -drastic  oppressive  measures 
used  against  socialists  by  the  military 
government,  so  that  the  weekly  "Choku- 
gen"  filled  its  columns  more  and  more 


THE  SOCIALIST   MOVEMENT  97 

with  socialist  news  from  abroad,  Japanese 
news  being  suppressed.  Comrade  Kaneko 
had  contributed  every  week  from  America 
and  I  also  acted  as  a  sort  of  exchange  me- 
dium between  comrades  at  home  and 
abroad  as  I  resided  at  that  time  in  this 
country. 

The  "Chokugen"  published  a  transla- 
tion of  "Merrie  England".  The  "Weekly 
has  always  been  well  edited  with  literary 
skill  and  accomplishment. 

Socialist  meetings  were  held  at  various 
parts  of  cities  and  in  the  country.  Meet- 
ings to  study  socialism,  social  gatherings 
of  comrades,  debating  clubs  and  public 
meetings  were  held  each  week  throughout 
the  country.  But,  sad  to  say,  owing  to  the 
lack  of  experience  and  also  to  the  fact  that 
socialists  were  deprived  of  the  right  to  or- 
ganize a  party,  socialists  could  not  mass 
the  forces  scattered  all  over  the  country 
into  one  socialist  organization,  while  the 
war  ministry  of  Prince  Katsura  ever 
tightened  its  oppressive  grip  on  the  necks 


98  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

of  socialists.  New  socialist  books  were 
often  suppressed  and  the  weekly  "Choku- 
gen"  met  with  occasional  confiscations. 
Frequent  trials  and  imprisonment  of  ed- 
itors weakened  the  ranks.  Financially 
the  weekly  had  to  meet  its  deficit  by  con- 
tributions from  comrades.  With  these 
and  many  other  difficulties,  there  came  a 
great  blow  to  the  weekly.  It  was  altogeth- 
er suspended  on  account  of  great  riots 
that  were  started  on  the  5th  of  September, 
1905,  in  the  City  of  Tokyo,  when  martial 
law  was  declared ;  for  a  few  days  the  cap- 
ital was  completely  in  the  hands  of  mobs. 
This  disturbance  was  attributed  to  the  dis- 
satisfaction of  the  people  with  the  peace 
terms  concluded  at  Portsmouth,  but  in 
reality  it  was  a  general  dissatisfaction  of 
the  people  against  the  Katsura  Ministry, 
which  had  been  lying  to  the  people  about 
diplomatic  affairs,  at  the  same  time  sup- 
pressing the  freedom  of  the  people. 

The  weekly  ' '  Chokugen ' '  was  suspended 
without  giving  any  reason  as  a  result  of 


THE  SOCIALIST   MOVEMENT  99 

the  riots.  Our  comrades  were  grouped 
together  round  this  weekly  and  largely  de- 
pended upon  the  income  of  sales  of  the  pa- 
per and  books.  The  number  of  these 
comrades  had  lately  increased  while  the 
income  did  not  grow  because  many  law 
suits  and  frequent  suppressions  of  the 
weekly  and  books  made  it  ever  more  diffi- 
cult to  support  the  movement.  So  they 
decided  to  break  up  the  group  entirely. 

This  period  of  the  socialist  movement 
ended  with  a  popular  uprising  in  the  cities 
and  the  country  and  contained  a  good 
promise  for  new  activities  in  the  near  fu- 
ture. On  the  whole  we  consider  that  the 
socialists  made  a  splendid  and  glorious 
fight  against  the  war  and  for  the  peace ! 


V. 

THE    SOCIALIST   PARTY   AND    ITS 
ACTIVITIES. 

War  against  the  Russo-Japanese  war 
was  fought  by  socialists  with  increasing 
vigor  and  determination.  It  was  a  splen- 
did fight  throughout  against  our  jingoists. 

The  keynote  of  the  battle  of  the  Japa- 
nese Socialists  was  noble  and  strong  and 
was  inspired  by  Count  Tolstoi  in  his  mes- 
sage in  the  London  Times  that  rang 
through  the  world.  But  our  comrades 
spent  all  of  their  energy  and  force  on  this 
anti-war  movement  and  lost  temporarily 
many  agitators,  who  are  now  serving  their 
terms  in  prison.  Financially  the  "Choku- 
gen"  had  suffered  greatly  on  account  of 
constant  suppressions  and  persecutions  by 
the  government  censor.  The  final  blow 
was  struck  by  the  entire  suppression  at 
the  time  of  the  great  riots  in  Tokyo,  Sept. 
5th,  1905.  Martial  law  was  declared  to 
100 


SOCIALIST  ACTIVITIES  101 

put  down  this  popular  uprising.  This  sup- 
pression was  the  direct  cause  of  discon- 
tinuance of  the  "Chokugen"  and  also  the 
dissolution  of  the  Heimin  Sha,  the  social- 
ist organization,  in  which  our  comrades 
grouped  together  to  work  for  the  cause  of 
socialism,  with  the  chief  object  of  publish- 
ing the  Heimin  and  afterward  the  "Cho- 
kugen"  and  socialist  books. 

Soon  after  this  suppression  of  the  pa- 
per, Comrade  Kotoku  left  Japan  partly 
to  regain  his  lost  health  in  America  and 
partly  to  organize  Japanese  socialists  in 
this  country.  I  was  still  in  America  at 
that  time  and  at  home  many  comrades 
were  on  trial  for  the  cause.  Moreover, 
since  the  entrance  of  Comrades  Kotoku 
and  Sakai  into  the  active  socialist  move- 
ment in  November,  1903,  it  had  become 
more  and  more  intellectual  and  radical  in 
its  views,  accepting  the  straight  Marxian 
socialist  theory.  This  being  the  case  a 
large  number  of  students  joined  the  move- 
ment. This  was  largely  due  to  the  fact 


102        THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

that  these  two  comrades  and  those  who 
joined  afterward  were  well  versed  in  Jap- 
anese literature  with  a  fair  knowledge  of 
English;  so  they  presented  socialism  in 
such  a  way  as  to  attract  the  attention  and 
interest  of  the  student  classes.  There 
were  many  intellectual  socialists,  all  able 
writers  and  many  good  speakers.  At  the 
end  of  the  Eusso-Japan  war  it  became  a 
more  difficult  problem  how  they  could 
support  themselves  than  how  to  continue 
the  active  propaganda  work.  They  were 
all  good  workers,  who  can  edit  a  socialist 
paper  or  any  other  paper.  But  they  could 
not  get  a  position  on  any  capitalist  paper 
on  account  of  their  views.  The  supporters 
and  more  particularly  the  subscribers  of 
the  socialist  papers  were  mostly  students 
or  country  youths,  who  were  still  under 
parental  support.  There  was  no  strong 
support  from  real  workers,  as  was  the  case 
with  my  paper,  the  Labor  World. 

This    regrettable    weakness    combined 
with  the  above  difficulties  in  the  situation 


SOCIALISTIC  ACTIVITIES  103 

of  the  socialist  intellectuals  is  shown  by 
the  fact  that  when  the  Heimin  Sha  was 
broken  up,  Comrades  who  were  connected 
with  the  Heimin  started  three  different 
socialist  papers— The  Hikari  (Light),  the 
Shinkigen  (New  Era)  and  The  Home 
magazine.  There  was  one  other  paper 
called  The  Fire  Whip,  published  by  other 
Comrades.  The  Hikari  was  edited  by 
Nishikawa  and  Yamaguchi,  and  was  sup- 
ported by  almost  all  the  comrades  by 
contribution  of  articles.  Of  course  each 
paper  had  its  own  editors,  with  a 
group  of  outside  supporters.  By  the 
time  that  the  inner  difficulties  and  the 
problems  of  grouping  the  intellectuals  were 
somewhat  adjusted  by  the  above  men- 
tioned  publications  the  public  situation  in 
general,  had  changed  for  the  better.  This 
change  was  brought  about  chiefly  by  the 
fall  of  the  Katsura's  War  Ministry  and 
the  formation  of  a  new  ministry  by  Mar- 
quis Saionji.  Soon  we  found  out  that  we 
could  form  a  party.  This  we  did  by  found- 


104        THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

ing  a  new  socialist  party  and  sending  a 
note  to  the  Minister  of  the  Interior,  who 
did  not  suppress  it.  Other  comrades  tried 
this  also  with  the  same  result.  On  the 
24th  of  February,  1906,  comrades  came  to- 
gether at  Dr.  Kato's  office  in  Shimbashi, 
Tokyo,  and  duly  formed  the  Socialist 
Party.  I  was  back  in  Japan  at  this  time 
and  took  my  part  in  the  formation  of  the 
party. 

The  police  department  told  city  editors 
that  there  were  some  twenty-five  thousand 
socialists  in  the  country.  We  can  not  rely 
on  this  for  the  government  might  have 
reported  more  socialists  in  order  to  get  an 
appropriation  for  suppressing  them.  But 
undoubtedly  there  was  then  quite  a  large 
number  of  socialists  all  over  the  country. 
In  our  movement  the  party  organization 
had  been  rather  neglected  and  besides  the 
government  measure  against  organization 
had  been  in  force.  In  fact,  our  comrades 
since  the  beginning  of  the  late  war  with 
Russia  did  somewhat  purposely  avoid  the 


SOCIALISTIC   ACTIVITIES  105 

rigid  party  organization  because  the  So- 
cialist Association  which  was  not  legally  a 
political  party  would  have  been  sup- 
pressed had  it  come  out  openly  as  a  social- 
ist party.  Moreover  according  to  the  laws 
of  Japan,  women  and  persons  under  twen- 
ty-one are  prohibited  from  organizing  or 
joining  any  political  party  and  attending 
any  political  meeting.  This,  of  course, 
was  a  great  drawback  to  us  because  in  the 
Socialist  party,  a  large  majority  of  com- 
rades have  been  young  men,  especially 
students  who  would  be  excluded  from  a 
formal  political  party.  But  on  the  other 
hand  with  a  socialist  party  we  can  canvas 
the  scattered  socialist  forces  into  one  solid 
organization,  and  work  more  efficiently 
than  without  such  a  party. 

The  first  work  of  the  Socialist  Party 
was  to  call  mass  meetings  on  llth  and 
15th  of  March,  1906.  The  meetings  were 
to  protest  against  raising  the  carfare  in 
Tokyo  from  three  sen  to  five  sen  and  both 
were  to  be  held  at  the  Hibiya  Park.  The 


106        THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

first  meeting  failed  on  account  of  heavy 
rains.  The  second  was  a  great  success  with 
fine  weather.  There  were  over  ten  thou- 
sand people.  Many  socialists  made  stir- 
ring speeches  and  the  citizens  of  Tokyo, 
especially  those  present,  were  made  ac- 
quainted with  the  socialists. 

After  the  meeting  was  over  the  excited 
crowds,  indignant  over  the  greedy  street- 
car company,  attacked  the  cars  and  offices 
of  the  company.  This  made  the  demonstra- 
tion still  more  effective.  As  a  result  the 
government  did  not  give  permission  to 
raise  the  fare,  and  the  citizens  kept  the 
three  sen  through-fare  for  the  whole  city. 
That  was  a  most  encouraging  start  for  the 
Party.  It  was  the  first  victory  for  the  red 
flag  in  Japan.  In  this  agitation  we  dis- 
tributed some  twenty  thousand  little  pam- 
phlets written  by  me  and  many  of  them 
were  sold.  A  number  of  meetings  were 
held  all  over  the  city.  In  this  way  we 
created  a  strong  public  opinion  against 
raising  the  fare. 


SOCIALISTIC   ACTIVITIES  107 

With  this  good  beginning  the  Socialist 
Party  made  very  good  progress ;  members 
increased  ten-fold  in  a  few  months  and 
many  branches  were  formed  throughout 
the  country.  Soon  there  were  twelve, 
which  number  increased  to  fifteen.  These 
were  organized  under  the  following  names 
— Dawn,  Yokohama;  Flame,  Hitachi;  A. 
B.  C.  Club,  Okayama;  Tea  Talk  Club, 
Hiroshima;  Heimin  dub,  Nimiya;  Yoko- 
hama; Kobe;  Yokosuka;  Kagoshima; 
Hakodate;  Socialist  Association;  Kushi- 
moto;  and  other  places  under  different 
names.  During  this  period  comrade  Ko- 
toku  was  in  San  Francisco  and  was  work- 
ing among  the  Japanese  there.  His  arti- 
cles and  reports  on  the  progress  of  the 
Socialist  movements  in  America  gave  a 
great  impetus  to  comrades  at  home. 

In  the  Hikari,  issued  on  the  25th  of  Oc- 
tober, 1906,  there  appeared  an  announce- 
ment to  the  effect  that  there  would  be 
formed  a  company  which  would  soon  pub- 
lish a  socialist  daily.  This  announcement 


108        THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

was  made  under  the  following  names: — 
Kotoku,  Sakai,  Ischikawa,  Nishikawa  and 
Takeuchi  as  the  original  promoters.  These 
five  promoters,  share-holders,  ($50  a 
share)  editorial  and  business  members  of 
the  Daily  Heimin  and  employees  were  to 
constitute  the  company — the  Heimin  Sha. 
The  promoters  would  have  full  power  in 
their  democratic  management,  and  the 
shareholders  were  to  get  a  full  report  on 
the  business  and  would  have  the  right  to 
ask  questions  or  speak  on  all  matters  con- 
cerning the  work. 

In  the  same  issue  the  Hikari  said  that 
they  had  already  bought  a  house  and  an 
entire  printing  outfit,  types  and  machines, 
and  the  first  issue  of  the  Daily  Heimin 
was  announced  for  the  15th  of  January, 
1907.  The  last  number  of  the  New  Era  ap- 
peared in  November  and  that  of  Hikari 
in  December.  The  last  issue  of  the  Hikari 
gives  full  details  of  the  company;  twenty- 
one  members  participated  in  the  Daily  and 
there  were  twenty-eight  share-holders. 


SOCIALISTIC   ACTIVITIES  109 

With  a  preparation  of  little  over  two 
months,  our  comrades  gave  to  the  world 
a  well  edited  socialist  daily;  its  news 
items,  editorials  and  contributed  articles 
were  all  full  of  interest  and  instruction. 
Enthusiasm,  forcefulness  and  radicalism 
dominated  the  whole  paper.  Its  circula- 
tion was  increasing  daily.  But  often  ex- 
treme radicalism  and  the  outspoken  man- 
ner of  expressing  things  brought  a  severe 
censorship  against  the  daily  which  made 
the  articles  still  more  vigorous,  as  for  in- 
stance, in  "Kick  Your  Mother  and  Fa- 
ther." This,  however,  crippled  a  steady 
growth  of  the  daily  paper  while  its  sup- 
pression, the  accusations,  trials,  fines  and 
imprisonment  of  editors  weakened  the 
fighting  power  and  finally  the  daily  was 
altogether  suppressed  by  the  government, 
never  to  revive,  after  a  brief  existence  of 
only  seventy-five  issues,  January  15th  to 
March  14th,  1907. 

But  it  made  a  very  good  impression  on 


110        THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

the  public  and  our  comrades  realized  once 
more  the  power  of  the  press. 

During  the  month  of  February,  1907, 
two  things  happened  that  must  be  remem- 
bered in  order  to  understand  the  real  situ- 
ation of  the  socialist  movement  in  Japan 
at  this  turn  and  the  period  immediately 
succeeding.  One  was  a  great  riot  occur- 
ring at  the  Asio  copper  mines.  The  riot 
was  started  on  the  14th  of  February  and 
continued  for  three  days  and  was  only  put 
down  by  calling  out  the  national  troops. 
This  was  the  first  experience  of  this  kind 
in  the  history  of  Japan's  labor  movement. 
The  riot  spread  over  all  the  mines  and  de- 
stroyed a  great  part  of  the  mining  prop- 
erties that  were  easily  accessible  to  riot- 
ers. The  loss  was  estimated  at  two  mil- 
lion dollars.  The  authorities  arrested  over 
200  miners  and  labor  leaders. 

The  labor  movement  at  the  Asio  copper 
mines  was  started  in  December,  1903,  by 
Comrade  Nagaoka,  a  personal  friend  of 
mine  and  a  well-known  miner  of  long 


SOCIALISTIC  ACTIVITIES  111 

standing,  a  strike  leader  at  the  Kosaka 
copper  mines  in  the  eighties  and  a  labor 
agitator  for  several  years  at  Yubari  Col- 
lieries. He  went  to  the  Asio  copper  mines 
and  worked  as  a  common  miner,  but  soon 
he  was  known  to  fellow  miners  as  their 
leader.  He  had  to  quit  his  work  and  pub- 
lished a  little  paper  called,  "  Friend  of  the 
Miners".  He  also  published  many  songs 
of  his  own  composition  and  sung  to  the 
miners  and  sold  them,  with  the  paper,  to 
support  the  movement.  At  one  time  be 
became  a  street  vender  so  as  to  be  in  con- 
stant touch  with  miners.  Thus  he  gradu- 
ally organized  miners  at  Asio  under  the 
name  of  Shisei-Kai,  a  Society  of  Sincere 
Persons.  Shisei-Kai  has  grown  in  few 
years  into  quite  a  strong  union  with  a 
membership  of  some  four  thousand  miners. 
In  1905  another  comrade  Minami,  the  co- 
agitator  of  Nagaoka  at  the  Yubari,  came 
to  Asio  and  joined  in  his  work. 

It   was    arranged   to    hold   the    annual 
meeting  of  the  Shisei-Kai  on  the  10th  of 


112        THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

February,  1906,  and  to  take  a  vote  on  the 
demands  of  the  miners,  who  were  working 
under  the  most  deplorable  conditions.  But 
on  the  4th  of  February  about  one  hundred 
miners  came  to  a  collision  with  a  number 
of  bosses  over  their  wages.  To  this  move- 
ment several  hundred  miners  joined  and  it 
developed  into  a  riot.  It  spread  like  wild- 
fire in  other  parts  of  the  same  mines.  At 
first  leaders  of  the  Shisei-Kai  endeavored 
hard  to  pacify  the  excited  miners  and  par- 
tially succeeded,  but  when  riots  broke  out 
in  other  parts,  the  police  stepped  in  sud- 
denly and  arrested  the  leaders  of  the 
Shisei-Kai  together  with  the  rioters— in 
total  over  200.  When  the  miners,  who  had 
kept  away  from  the  actual  scenes  of  the 
riots,  heard  about  the  arrest  of  comrades 
Minami  and  Nayaoka,  they  became  angry 
at  the  injustice  of  the  authorities  and  went 
to  destroy  the  properties. 

It  was  supposed  that  the  Mining  Com- 
pany purposely  instigated  some  of  the 
miners  to  come  to  a  conflict  with  the  bosses 


SOCIALISTIC   ACTIVITIES  113 

in  order  to  find  a  pretext  to  arrest  the 
leaders  of  the  Shisei-Kai  and  destroy  the 
Shisei-Kai  itself.  But  subsequent  investi- 
gations and  trials  brought  to  light  that  the 
rioters  were  neither  instigated  by  the  agi- 
tators nor  by  the  company  but  that  the 
riots  were  spontaneous  uprisings  of  min- 
ers who  were  outrageously  ill-treated  and 
brutally  exploited  by  the  mine-owners. 
After  three  months  the  leaders  were  re- 
leased. But  at  the  time  of  the  riots,  the 
trouble  was  attributed  to  the  influence  of 
Socialists  and  the  Daily  Heimin,  by  the 
press  and  authorities.  As  the  result  the 
Shisei-Kai  was  entirely  suppressed  and  all 
its  properties  were  confiscated  by  the  gov- 
ernment. The  mining  company  hunted  out 
the  members  and  dismissed  them.  After 
the  riots  there  remained  in  Asio,  no  union 
and  no  agitator. 

The  second  important  event  of  the 
month  was  the  first  anniversary  meeting 
of  the  socialist  party  held  at  Tokyo  on 
February  17th.  The  most  heated  discus- 


114        THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

sions  were  carried  on  over  the  question  of 
tactics  of  the  Party.  The  Executive  Com- 
mittee after  many  meetings,  drafted  a 
change  of  constitution  and  a  compromis- 
ing resolution  on  tactics.  The  change  in 
the  Constitution  suggested  was  to  strike 
out  the  clause — "we  advocate  socialism 
within  the  law."  The  resolution  contained 
the  following  points : 

A  radical  and  fundamental  change  of 
the  existing  society;  universal  suffrage; 
anti-militarism  and  anti-religion.  Besides, 
two  opposing  resolutions  were  proposed 
by  opposing  leaders.  The  one  by  Comrade 
Kotoku  on  Direct  Action,  striking  out 
Universal  Suffrage,  and  the  other  by  Com- 
rade Tazoye  on  the  policy  of  Parliament- 
arism. After  several  hours  of  discussion 
both  opposing  resolutions  were  defeated 
and  the  compromising  resolution  was  car- 
ried by  the  majority.  This,  however,  de- 
cided the  fate  of  the  Socialist  Party  for 
long  years  to  come.  The  tone  and  thought 
of  the  speeches  made  and  the  resolution 


SOCIALISTIC  ACTIVITIES  115 

adopted  in  the  meeting  of  the  Socialist 
Party,  left  no  doubt  in  the  minds  of  the 
authorities  that  it  was  an  extremely  revo- 
lutionary and  radical  one,  although  the 
resolution  was  considered  to  be  a  compro- 
mise between  two  extremes.  The  govern- 
ment thereupon  suppressed  the  Socialist 
Party  and  never  allowed  it  to  be  revived 
up  to  the  present  day. 

The  Daily  Heimin,  which  printed  the 
speeches  of  Kotoku  and  Tazoye,  and  the 
resolution,  was  prosecuted  on  a  charge  of 
treason  to  the  Imperial  Constitution.  As 
I  foresaw  that  this  misfortune  might  hap- 
pen if  we  went  too  far  in  our  tactics,  I 
had  persuaded  my  fellow  comrades  in 
drafting  the  constitution  of  the  Socialist 
Party  in  February,  1906,  to  insert  a  clause 
—"We  advocate  socialism  within  the  limit 
of  the  Law."  My  contention  was  that  in 
Japan  a  law-abiding  socialist  could  most 
forcibly  and  ably  advocate  socialism.  Our 
workers  were  not  educated  in  the  tactics 
of  the  labor  movement  and  therefore 


116        THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

should  go  slow  in  order  to  lead  and  educate 
them.  Unfortunately  I  was  absent  after 
June  of  that  year  and  arrived  at  Yoko- 
hama two  days  after  the  Socialist  Party 
meeting.  Ever  since  Comrade  Kotoku  had 
returned  from  America  the  previous  June, 
he  had  been  preaching  direct  action  and 
general  strikes,  minimizing  political  ac- 
tion. His  influence  now  became  a  conflict- 
ing factor  in  the  socialist  movement.  Edi- 
torials of  the  daily  Heimin  were  domi- 
nated by  Comrade  Kotoku 's  influence  but 
there  were  many  comrades  who  advocated 
political  action,  including  Comrade  Sakai, 
who  still  holds  to  Parliamentarism. 
Younger  persons,  especially  students,  in- 
clined toward  radicalism.  This  conflict, 
however,  unfortunately,  did  not  have  full 
chance  to  crystalize  through  the  columns 
of  the  Heimin  as  the  paper  was  sup- 
pressed. The  fight  between  the  two  wings 
was  left  to  future  organs  yet  to  be  born. 

FIGHT    OVER    SOCIALIST    TACTICS 

For  some  time  I  watched  the  work  of 


SOCIALISTIC   ACTIVITIES  117 

my  comrades  in  the  Daily  Heimin,  only 
contributing  articles  from  time  to  time. 
I  was  sorry  to  see  this  movement  become 
more  and  more  radical  and  extreme  and 
finally  go  down  in  pieces.  There  was  no 
socialist  paper  for  two  months,  from  the 
middle  of  March  to  the  first  of  June,  1908. 
The  heated  excitement  and  the  final  death 
of  the  Daily  Heimin  was  something  very 
tragical.  Some  twenty  or  more  comrades, 
among  whom  were  a  few  with  families, 
lost  their  living  with  the  sudden  end  of 
the  paper.  I  was  present  in  the  last  meet- 
ing at  the  editorial  room  of  the  Daily  Hei- 
min and  was  called  upon  to  speak.  I  do 
not  remember  what  I  said  but  I  know  that 
I  actually  wept  before  those  comrades 
whose  situation  was  worse  than  mine! 

In  a  few  weeks  many  comrades  secured 
some  employment,  but  many  are  still  strug- 
gling with  extreme  difficulties.  The  prob- 
lems were  very  complicated  and  difficult 
to  solve.  For  everybody  seemed  dissatis- 
fied with  his  own  condition,  and  many 


118        THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

blamed  others  for  the  management  of  the 
late  Daily;  so  there  was  felt  a  necessity 
to  solve  the  conflict  and  get  rid  of  some 
among  them.  The  same  problems  were 
again  confronted  as  those  faced  at  the 
time  of  the  dissolution  of  the  Heimin  in 
September,  1905.  The  only  difference  was 
in  the  socialist  tactics,  in  the  public  atti- 
tude and  in  the  government  policy  toward 
socialists.  This  made  it  still  harder  for 
intellectual  socialists  to  get  on  in  the 
world. 

After  these  difficulties  there  appeared 
two  socialist  papers,  one  in  Tokyo  pub- 
lished by  Comrade  Nishikawa  and  myself 
with  two  other  comrades,  and  another  at 
Osaka  by  Comrade  Morichika.  The  one 
was  called  Shaksi  Shimbum  (Socialist 
News)  the  other  Osaka  Heimin.  The 
former  represented  Parliamentarism  and 
the  latter  Direct  Action.  There  were  soon 
also  two  socialist  bodies  in  Tokyo,  one  was 
called  Doshikai  and  the  other  Kinyokai; 
the  first  is  represented  by  Comrades  Nishi- 


SOCIALISTIC   ACTIVITIES  119 

kawa  and  myself  and  the  latter  by  Com- 
rades Kotuku,  Sakai,  Doshikai  and  Kin- 
yokai.  Each  had  the  support  of  a  group 
of  Comrades. 

The  Socialist  News  was  chiefly  edited 
by  Comrade  Nishikawa,  who  worked  with 
me  during  the  years  1901—1903.  He  was 
now  considered  to  be  one  of  the  principal 
figures  in  the  socialist  movement  and  car- 
ried on  discussions  on  socialist  tactics  with 
his  former  colleagues,  Kotoku  and  Sakai, 
whose  articles  were  appearing  in  the 
Osaka  Heimin  regularly.  Although  I  was 
solely  responsible  for  the  financing  of  the 
paper  I  was  not  a  match  in  writing  and 
discussing  theoretical  matters  with  these 
intellectuals.  I  can  write  and  speak  to  the 
working  class  and  interpret  their  thoughts 
and  actions.  My  thoughts  and  sympathies 
are  with  the  workers  and  not  with  intel- 
lectuals. 

Although  I  advocate  Universal  Suffrage 
as  the  best  means  of  educating  the  working 
classes  and  as  a  peaceful  method  for  the 


120        THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

development  of  the  socialist  movement  in 
Japan,  I  have  also  belief  in  the  direct  ac- 
tion of  workers  and  in  general  strikes  as 
the  best  means  of  strengthening  the  posi- 
tion of  the  workers  against  the  capitalist 
classes. 

BESSI  COPPER  MINE  STRIKES 

On  the  4th  of  June,  1907,  about  two  hun- 
dred miners  came  into  conflict  with  the 
companies  *  officers.  This  trouble  was 
caused  by  dismissal  of  their  leaders  who 
had  called  a  meeting  in  which  the  miners 
voted  to  ask  the  company  to  raise  ,the 
wages  30  per  cent  and  to  present  some 
other  demands.  They  were  roughly  dealt 
with  by  the  bosses.  At  this  the  miners, 
very  indignant,  at  once  got  hold  of  the 
munition  store  and  started  to  destroy 
every  building  but  the  school,  hospital  and 
miners'  dwellings.  Soon  the  rioters  in- 
creased to  six  hundred  and  went  to  the 
work  of  destruction  in  other  parts  of  the 
mines.  This  continued  for  three  days. 
There  were  at  one  time  over  fifteen  thou- 


SOCIALISTIC   ACTIVITIES  121 

sand  miners  rioting.  They  got  control  of 
the  mines.  The  police  forces  proved  to  be 
powerless  before  them.  The  Company,  or 
really  a  private  owner,  complied  with  all 
the  demands  of  the  miners,  but  at  the  same 
time  asked  the  Government  to  put  down 
the  riot  by  national  troops  which  the  gov- 
ernment did.  Miners  were  until  then  most 
brutally  exploited.  When  they  raided  the 
munition  store  they  found  many  pistols 
and  rifles.  In  fact  the  miners  often  were 
forced  to  work  at  the  point  of  rifle  or  pis- 
tol. Every  officer  carried  a  pistol  in  his 
pocket  since  the  wages  were  reduced  the 
year  before.  As  the  result  of  the  riots 
many  went  to  prison  but  the  riots  exposed 
the  awfulness  of  the  exploitation  of  labor 
in  the  Bessi  Copper  Mines. 

SOCIALIST    LECTURE    COURSES 

Although  discussions  on  socialist  tactics 
had  been  going  on  through  the  respective 
organs  of  the  two  wings,  both  parties  kept 
their  temper  calm  and  agreed  to  have  a 
joint  lecture  course.  It  was  arranged  to 


122        THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

hold  from  the  1st  to  the  10th  of  August, 
1907,  at  the  Hall  of  the  Universalists  in 
Tokyo.  Topics  and  lecturers  were  as  fol- 
lows: 

Socialist  Ethics — Kotoku. 

History  of  Socialism. — Tazoye. 

Origin  of  Society — Sakai. 

Economics  of  Socialism — Yamakawa. 

Story  of  Strikes — Nishikawa. 

History  of  Labor  Union  Movement 
— Katayama. 

In  their  respective  lecture  each  ex- 
pressed freely  his  own  views  on  tactics. 
In  some  cases  diametrically  opposed  and 
conflicting  views  were  presented  by  lectur- 
ers from  both  wings.  Naturally  a  bitter 
feeling  of  animosity  and  partisan  spirit 
developed  into  a  sort  of  antagonism,  but  it 
did  not  come  to  a  clash.  The  conflict  was 
expressed  later  by  each  wing  in  its  own 
paper,  and  soon  personal  animosity  and 
bitterness  broke  loose.  There  were  really 
two  parties  attacking  each  other.  Com- 
rades in  the  rank  and  file  did  not  share 


SOCIALISTIC   ACTIVITIES  123 

the  feelings  of  either  and  had  very  little 
interest  in  the  differences  of  tactics.  They 
lingered  between  the  two  for  a  while  but 
soon  dwindled  away  as  the  conflicts  of 
their  leaders  became  stronger  and  more 
personal.  In  the  meantime  the  leaders  in 
both  parties  utterly  neglected  the  real 
cause  of  socialism  and  forgot  about  the 
interests  of  the  working  class. 


VI. 

SUPPRESSION  AND  REVOLT  OF 
SOCIALISTS  IN  JAPAN, 

As  in  Europe  we  had  conflicts  and  divi- 
sions over  the  question  of  socialist  tactics 
in  Japan.  For  some  time,  we  had  prac- 
tically two  socialist  groups:— Marxians 
and  direct  actionists.  I  belong  to  the 
former,  although  I  never  repudiated  direct 
action  and  general  strikes.  I  voted  in  fa- 
vor of  the  general  strike  at  Amsterdam. 
But  I  tried  to  keep  a  calm  attitude  in  this 
matter  at  that  time.  I  thought  it  best  for 
the  socialist  movement  in  Japan  to  assume 
a  firm  stand  on  the  principles  and  tactics 
as  decided  in  the  Socialist  Congress  at 
Amsterdam.  Because  our  working  classes 
are  not  so  advanced  in  thought  and  in 
practice  and  even  are  not  yet  organized. 
Amidst  brutal  oppression  of  the  govern- 
ment, I  have  been  preaching  Marxian 
principles  for  the  past  ten  years  and  some 
124 


SUPPRESSION  AND  BEVOLT  125 

of  our  workers  now  understand  socialism 
fairly  well.  But  I  thought  it  too  radical 
and  hasty  for  our  workers  to  change  our 
tactics  by  giving  up  our  political  program. 
It  would  give  a  better  pretext  to  the  gov- 
ernment to  suppress  our  movement. 

We  have  had  a  fairly  good  result  in  our 
propaganda  work  in  this  country.  During 
the  autumn  and  winter  of  1906-7  we  made 
several  lecturing  tours  into  the  cities  and 
towns,  sold  many  socialist  books  and  ' '  the 
Socialist  News",  our  socialist  organ 
around  which  we  grouped  ourselves  and 
worked  together  for  the  cause.  But  I 
made  at  this  time  a  serious  blunder,  being 
persuaded  by  co-worker  Comrade  Nishi- 
kawa  to  take  his  personal  friend,  Akaba, 
into  our  group.  Mr.  Akaba  proved  to  be 
an  anarchist.  As  he  was  a  personal  friend 
of  Comrade  Nishikawa,  the  latter  always 
sided  with  Mr.  Akaba.  This  caused  a  con- 
stant friction  and  dispute  among  us  on  the 
matter  of  policy  which  eventually  ended  in 
complete  rupture;  Comrades  Nishikawa 


126        THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

and  Akaba  on  the  one  side  and  Comrades 
Tazoye  and  myself  on  the  other.  For  a 
short  period  there  were  two.  "Socialist 
News"  in  Tokyo;  the  one  belonged  to  us 
and  the  other  to  them.  But  this  soon  dis- 
continued, and  afterwards  Comrade  Nishi- 
kawa  went  to  prison  for  an  old  offense. 
When  he  came  out  of  prison  in  1911,  he 
was  no  longer  a  Socialist.  To  the  surprise 
of  many  Mr.  Nishikawa  denounced  social- 
ism and  repudiated  entirely  his  past  work 
in  his  book  called  "  Confession". 

Soon  after  the  rupture  with  Nishikawa, 
we  lost  our  best  fighter  in  Comrade  Ta- 
zoye, who  had  studied  in  America  and  was 
the  chief  champion  of  the  parliamentarian 
tactics.  He  fought  first  with  Kotoku  on 
tactics  and  then  with  Nishikawa.  He  was 
no  doubt  a  victim  of  these  conflicts.  His 
death  caused  a  deep  impression  on  the 
minds  of  comrades  throughout  the  coun- 
try. 

In  spite  of  many  obstacles  and  much  op- 
pression from  the  Government  we  carried 


SUPPRESSION  AND  REVOLT  127 

on  our  work.  There  were  then  only  a  few 
branches,  Tanoura,  Shizuoka,  Mikura  Mura 
and  Tokyo.  Three  of  us  chiefly  engaged 
in  the  propaganda  work, — Comrades  Ta- 
teo  Suzuki,  Fujita  and  myself.  Comrade 
Fujita 's  socialist  career  is  very  interest- 
ing. He  started  as  a  newsboy  in  the 
streets  of  Tokyo.  Soon  he  became  a  leader 
among  the  newsboys.  There  were  some 
five  to  six  hundred.  Every  newsboy  recog- 
nized young  Fujita  as  his  leader.  This 
gave  him  an  inestimable  value  and  advan- 
tage in  later  years.  He  is  a  born  mob 
leader.  When  he  plans  a  big  demonstra- 
tion or  mass  meeting  he  schemes  quietly 
all  by  himself,  but  when  he  acts,  his  former 
fellow  newsboys  and  their  successors  help 
him  to  succeed.  He  could  distribute  leaf- 
lets, say  ten  thousand,  in  an  hour  or  two, 
through  several  hundred  newsboys,  before 
the  police  could  get  hold  of  them  and  stop 
it.  Demonstrations  that  were  successful 
in  recent  years  were  all  planned  and  exe- 
cuted by  this  young  Fujita.  He  had  little 


128        THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

or  no  education,  but  habitual  reading  of 
editorials  of  newspapers  made  him  later 
a  fairly  good  writer.  But  to  become  an 
agitator  he  had  to  work  hard.  First  he 
wrote  a  speech  on  Universal  Suffrage  with 
great  pains  and  difficulties,  after  a  hard 
study  of  several  months.  With  this  one 
speech  he  went  with  me  everywhere. 

In  later  years  he  made  an  extensive  tour 
throughout  the  country  with  the  same 
one  speech,  of  course,  with  largely  in- 
creased material,  so  that  he  could  hold 
his  audience  from  one  to  two  hours.  In 
this  way  he  escaped  the  government  cen- 
sor. During  1908-1910  Comrade  Fujita 
worked  with  me.  Our  chief  audiences  con- 
sisted of  workingmen.  I  spoke  mostly  on 
the  material  finance  and  on  economic  sub- 
jects, always  interpreted  in  the  light  of 
Socialism.  We  could  not  mention  words 
such  as  labor  strikes,  labor  organizations, 
boycott  and  socialism  or  revolution.  But 
we  expressed  revolutionary  socialist 
thought  in  a  round-about  fashion.  By 


SUPPRESSION  AND  REVOLT  129 

such  means  as  these  we  carried  on  our 
propaganda  work  for  about  three  years. 
Our  group,  at  first  three,  increased  to  five : 
— Fujita,  already  mentioned,  Sasai,  laun- 
dry worker;  Ikeda,  book-peddler;  Kobay- 
ashi,  ex-street-car  conductor,  and  myself. 
We  were  in  constant  touch  with  the  work- 
ers, and  attempted  to  organize  them,  but 
always  frustrated  by  the  authorities.  Our 
work  received  a  great  blow  at  a  strike 
where  three  of  us  were  arrested,  includ- 
ing myself,  on  the  charge  of  strike-incit- 
ing the  arrest  occurring  in  January,  1912. 
But  before  I  tell  the  story  of  this  strike, 
we  better  go  back  a  few  years  to  tell  of 
the  activities  of  our  radical  comrades. 

DIRECT    ACTIONISTS 

The  direct  actionists  or  radical  social- 
ists were  now  grouped  around  the  Osaka 
Heimin,  published  in  the  city  of  Osaka, 
and  the  Kinyo  Kai,  their  organization,  a 
rival  to  the  Doshikai  of  the  Marxian 
group.  The  Kinyo  Kai  (Friday  Society 


130        THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

because  they  met  regularly  on  Friday) 
was  organized  in  the  summer  of  1907  in 
Tokyo  by  Kotoku,  Yamakawa,  and  Sakai. 
The  last-named  comrade  is  to  this  day  a 
good  Marxian  socialist.  These  comrades, 
either  through  the  columns  of  the  Heimin, 
or  at  the  meetings  of  the  Kinyo  Kai, 
fought  a  most  splendid  fight  for  their 
ideals  against  the  brutal  oppression  of  the 
government.  Their  meetings  constantly 
were  interfered  with  by  the  police  authori- 
ties. At  one  of  the  meetings  almost  all  of 
those  present  were  arrested,  only  because 
they  did  not  obey  the  orders  of  the  police 
to  break  up  the  meeting.  The  Osaka  Hei- 
min carried  on  war  against  capitalists  in 
that  city  and  often  their  issues  were  sup- 
pressed on  account  of  its  radical  views. 
Comrade  Morichika,  the  editor  of  the  Hei- 
min, went  to  prison  seeral  times  on  account 
of  the  press  law. 

The  comrades  using  the  pages  of  the 
Heimin  conducted  a  "penny  boat"  strike 
with  success.  The  city  of  Osaka  has  very 


SUPPRESSION  AND  REVOLT  131 

narow  streets,  but  wide  canals.  In  fact, 
it  is  a  city  of  canals  and  rivers,  so  the 
"penny  boats"  take  the  place  of  street 
cars.  Osaka  is  the  most  conservative  city 
in  Japan,  as  consequence  Comrade  Mori- 
chika  had  indeed  a  very  hard  fight  to  keep 
up  the  Heimin.  Although  he  was  finan- 
cially supported  by  the  owners  of  the  Kok- 
kei  News  (a  humorous  paper),  and  edi- 
torially by  the  comrades  of  Kinyo  Kai,  he 
had  to  give  up  the  Heimin  after  one  year. 
He  narrates  the  hard  experiences  which 
led  to  his  failure  in  the  Kumamoto  Re- 
view, published  in  Kumamoto  by  radical 
comrades  in  that  city,  and  was  quite  active 
during  the  year  1908-9.  In  spite  of  sub- 
stantial aid  from  friends,  he  and  his  wife 
had  been  weak  and  ill,  and  after  a  year's 
fight  had  to  give  up  the  Heimin  and  stop 
their  activities  entirely.  He  soon  retired 
to  his  native  province  and  settled  there  to 
till  a  piece  of  land,  which  he  soon  con- 
verted into  a  beautiful  vineyard.  His 
home  was  there  when  he  was  arrested  and 


132        THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

was  murdered  with  Comrade  Kotoku  in 
1911. 

THE  BED  FLAG  RIOT 

Our  radical  comrades  are  accustomed 
to  call  this  the  Red  Flag  Riot.  No  doubt 
it  marks  the  beginning  of  an  epoch  of 
brutal  oppression  of  socialists  by  the  gov- 
ernment and  the  socialists'  revolt  against 
the  authorities.  On  the  22nd  of  June,  1908, 
a  joint  meeting  of  Kinyokai  and  Dishikai 
—Marxians  and  Direct  Actionists — was 
held  at  Kinki  Kan,  Tokyo.  The  meeting 
was  called  in  honor  of  Comrade  Yama- 
guchi,  who  had  just  come  out  of  prison. 
At  the  close  of  the  meeting  the  comrades 
of  Kinyo  Kai  hoisted  red  flags  in  the  street 
and  sang  a  revolutionary  song  (The  Chain 
of  Wealth).  Suddenly  about  fifty  police- 
men appeared  on  the  scene  and  attempted 
to  take  away  the  flags  and  finally  fourteen 
comrades  were  arrested.  They  were  tried 
and  ten  comrades  were  sent  to  prison  for 
from  one  year  to  two  and  one-half  years. 
The  whole  affair— arrests,  trials,  and  pun- 


SUPPRESSION  AND  REVOLT  133 

ishments— was  most  unjust;   rather  bar- 
barous through  and  through. 

Comrade  Sakai  did  not  take  part  in  the 
skirmish;  he  was  not  even  on  the  scene, 
and  yet  he  was  condemned  to  prison  for 
two  years.  The  sole  reason  for  his  con- 
demnation was  the  supposition  of  the 
judge  that  "he  must  have  been  the  lead- 
er." 

The  press  of  the  country  wildly  attacked 
our  comrades  as  the  worst  enemies  of  so- 
ciety. This  wholesale  condemnation  by 
the  newspapers  gave  the  government  still 
a  better  pretext  to  suppress  all  the  social- 
ists, irrespective  of  their  views.  After 
the  trial,  the  government  became  insanely 
sensitive  and  began  to  put  the  strictest 
guard  over  every  known  leader  of  social- 
ists. Detectives  and  policemen  hounded 
them  day  and  night.  Comrade  Kotoku 
was  weak  in  health,  but  his  house  was 
guarded  by  four  policemen,  two  in  front 
and  two  in  the  rear  of  the  house.  Every- 
one who  visited  him  was  forced  to  give 


134        THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

his  name,  and  then  this  person  was  also 
followed  by  a  detective. 

Japan  has  no  law  which  permits  the  ar- 
rest of  a  good  citizen  without  some  reason 
or  suspicion.  But  the  government  wanted 
to  arrest  all  socialists  known  to  the  au- 
thorities, especially  on  occasions  when  the 
Emperor  or  the  Crown  Prince  went  out. 
Then  the  government  sent,  a  policeman  or 
two  to  each  known  socialist  and  told  him 
that  if  he  went  out  he  would  be  arrested. 
Or  if  he  was  already  out,  he  was  arrested 
at  the  nearest  police  station  and  detained 
for  any  length  of  time.  This  was  done  by 
applying  an  old  law  made  to  arrest  a 
known  pickpocket  at.  a  fair  or  festival  un- 
til the  end  of  the  festivity.  Socialists  are 
thus  often  arrested  after  the  manner  of 
pickpockets.  In  this  way  the  government 
interferes  with  even  peaceful  actions  of 
socialists.  I  have  often  met  with  this 
treatment.  At  one  time  there  were  two 
policemen  always  after  me;  one  at  the 


SUPPRESSION  AND  REVOLT  135 

back  of  my  house  and  the  other  opposite 
my  house  as  a  janitor  in  the  school. 

With  few  exceptions  the  radical  com- 
rades were  in  prison  now,  but  the  oppres- 
sive and  brutal  measures,  intimidations, 
and  interferences  with  the  life  of  social- 
ists naturally  caused  anger  and  indigna- 
tion. It  was  in  this  period  that  much  un- 
derground literature  on  revolutionary 
ideas  was  printed  and  distributed.  Many 
comrades  were  caught  and  imprisoned,  as 
a  rule  for  five  years. 

THE  SO-CALLED  ANARCHIST   TRIALS 

Secret  activities  of  radical  socialists 
and  severe  suppression  of  the  same  by  the 
government  caused  more  and  more  des- 
perate tactics  on  both  sides.  Just  at  this 
time  the  ever  brutal  government  officials 
got  up  the  blackest  scheme  to  destroy  the 
entire  socialist  movement  in  the  bud. 
With  such  a  determination  the  cruel  and 
cunning  bureaucrats  worked  strenuously 
and  untiringly,  calling  on  every  possible 


136        THE  LABOB  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

resource  and  all  possible  knowledge  and 
powers  at  their  command.  At  last  they 
fabricated  and  instituted  the  world-fam- 
ous anarchist  trial,  which  condemned  Ko- 
toku  and  twenty-three  comrades  as  trait- 
ors and  murdered  him  with  eleven  others. 

In  order  to  frame  up  the  trials,  they 
went  to  arrest  one  comrade  after  another, 
commencing  in  May,  1910,  on  some  sup- 
posed crime,  or  no  crime  at  all.  Once  ar- 
rested, he  was  kept  entirely  isolated.  All 
the  preliminary  investigations  and  trials 
were  carried  on  in  absolute  secrecy ;  every 
means  was  used  to  convict  him  at  any 
cost.  Then,  when  the  final  trial  came, 
those  lawyers  who  defended  the  accused 
looked  into  the  papers  under  solemn  oath 
to  keep  them  in  strictest  secrecy,  under 
severe  punishment  if  they  were  brought  to 
light,  and  so  they  were  tried  in  the  high- 
est and  last  court  with  closed  doors. 

We  know  only  the  verdict  against  twen- 
ty-four comrades,  given  on  the  19th  of 
January,  1911.  The  verdict  rendered  on 


SUPPRESSION  AND  REVOLT  137 

that  day  against  our  comrades  is  a  most 
elaborate  piece  of  legal  phraseology,  well 
worded  and  most  adroitly  patching  up 
numerous  disconnected  and  conglomerated 
data  taken  from  conversation  and  letters 
and  what-not,  true  or  false,  extending  over 
many  years  and  supposed  to  have  taken 
place  in  different  parts  of  the  country  at 
different  times.  By  such  tedious  and  pains- 
taking means  the  preconceived  notions 
in  the  minds  of  a  few  influential  bureau- 
crats were  worked  out  skillfully  and  ar- 
rived at  the  desired  conclusion.  To  get 
what  was  desired  by  the  authorities,  they 
seem  to  have  freely  manufactured  evi- 
dences given  by  policemen.  In  Japan  the 
evidence  given  by  policemen  is  always  final 
against  those  statements  made  by  wit- 
nesses or  defendants.  Their  words  or  con- 
fessions do  not  count  at  all. 

The  framed-up  anarchist  verdict  painted 
every  one  of  the  twenty-four  as  an  awful 
terrorist  of  the  extremest  type.  Each  one 
was  part  of  a  great  conspiracy  to  commit 


138        THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

awful  crimes.  If  we  believe  all  those  elo- 
quent verdicts  and  speeches  of  the  pre- 
siding Judge,  there  is  nothing  to  say  at 
all.  But  why  did  the  government  keep  the 
entire  trial  secret?  Why  is  it  that  even 
today  any  criticism  of  the  trial  is  lese 
majesty?  Why  did  the  government  has- 
ten to  murder  those  so-called  anarchist 
convicts.  Usually  even  the  worst  murd- 
erer is  allowed  to  spend  at  least  sixty  days 
in  prison  after  his  final  conviction  by  the 
highest  court  of  the  Empire. 

Now,  these  comrades  were  tried,  mind 
you,  in  secret  in  the  first  and  in  the  final 
court,  from  whose  verdict  there  is  no  way 
to  make  appeal.  And  when  condemned  to 
death,  they  were  strangled  to  death  right 
after  the  verdict  was  given,  only  three  full 
days  being  allowed  them  instead  of  the 
usual  sixty  or  more  days.  Even  their  re- 
mains were  not  yielded  to  their  relatives. 
Why  did  they  hasten  in  this  particular 
case?  We  do  not  yet  know  the  exact  rea- 
sons. But  I  know  that  the  court  used  false 


SUPPRESSION  AND  REVOLT  139 

telegrams  freely  in  order  to  compel  the 
accused  to  confess.  Moreover,  from  Ko- 
toku's  letter,  written  in  prison  and  smug- 
gled out,  we  know  that  he  and  the  others 
were  subjected  to  the  severest  cross-ex- 
aminations day  after  day  and  night  after 
night  without  cessation,  often  standing 
twelve  to  fourteen  hours  at  a  stretch. 
Many  cunning  devices  and  traps  were  laid 
for  them  in  an  attempt  to  saddle  them 
with  the  highest  crimes.  Each  one,  after 
long  hours  of  cross-examination,  when 
worn  down  almost  to  unconsciousness,  had 
a  prepared  confession  read  to  him  by  the 
prosecutor,  which  was  of  course  written 
by  the  prosecutor  himself  to  suit  his  aim 
and  incriminate  the  defendant. 

I  know  this  from  my  own  experience 
with  the  very  same  prosecutor  who  con- 
victed Kotoku  and  the  others.  They  in- 
vestigated me  four  long  days  and  nights 
to  compel  me  to  confess  to  the  effect  that 
I  was  an  anarchist.  The  very  confession 
might  have  brought  upon  me  the  same  fate 


140        THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

that  descended  on  Comrade  Kotoku.  1 
realize  clearly,  from  the  logic  and  argu- 
ments they  used  against  me,  that  those 
comrades,  less  educated  in  debates,  and 
therefore,  not  finding  out  previously  what 
the  prosecutors  were  driving  at,  were  in- 
veigled into  such  verbal  traps. 

Although  the  Japanese  government 
gave  full  assurance  to  the  comrades  in  for- 
eign countries  who  protested  against  the 
unjust  murder  of  Kotoku  and  the  others 
that  Japan  is  not  persecuting  socialists  at 
all,  those  hung  being  all  active  anarchists, 
the  foreign  comrades  were  deliberately  de- 
ceived in  this.  In  fact  the  government 
went  on  persecuting  socialists  and  sup- 
pressing socialist  literature.  All  books  on 
socialism  were  confiscated  and  all  the  pub- 
lic libraries  were  ordered  to  withdraw  so- 
cialist books  and  papers.  Even  moderate 
papers  like  ours  were  severely  censored 
and  a  few  months  after  the  said  trial  it 
was  practically  suppressed  by  the  author- 
ities. 


SUPPRESSION  AND  REVOLT  141 

A  guard  of  the  court  who  attended  the 
Kotoku  trial  from  beginning  to  end  be- 
came insane  at  Kotoku 's  execution.  This 
guard  served  twenty  years  in  the  same 
court  and  had  an  absolute  confidence  in 
the  judges,  but  in  this  case  he  said  it  was 
utterly  unjust  to  hang  the  accused.  This 
little  incident  shows  that  the  trial  was  not 
fair  at  all.  In  fact,  the  severity  of  the 
punishment  of  Kotoku  and  others  caused 
a  change  of  the  public  attitude  toward 
socialists;  as  the  dealings  of  the  govern- 
ment with  socialists  were  regarded  as  too 
severe  and  as  the  ill-treatment  and  op- 
pression of  the  authorities  caused  the 
comrades  to  adopt  extreme  tactics. 


VII. 
THE   MARXIAN   SOCIALIST  GROUP 

ITS   ACTIVITY   IN   THE   GREAT   STREET   CAR 
STRIKE   IN   TOKYO 

Weanwhile  Marxian  socialist  groups 
had  been  carrying  on  quiet  propaganda 
work  among  the  working  class.  It  con- 
sisted solely  in  holding  meetings,  but  we 
used  meetings  to  interpret  social  and  po- 
litical facts  and  events  in  the  light  of  so- 
cialism. We  always  got  a  good  audience, 
mostly  of  the  working  people.  This  sort 
of  propaganda  was  carried  on  until  the 
end  of  the  year  1911,  when  there  was  a 
great  street  car  strike.  We  held  many 
meetings  during  the  months  of  October, 
November  and  December  in  the  city  of 
Tokyo  and  discussed  to  a  great  extent  the 
labor  problems  in  connection  with  the  em- 
ployes of  the  Tokyo  Street  Car  company. 
142 


THE  MARXIAN  SOCIALIST  GROUP          143 

The  strike  was  the  climax  of  our  move- 
ment. 

It  was  started  on  the  31st  of  December, 
1911,  and  lasted  until  the  4th  of  the  next 
January.  It  involved  six  thousand  engi- 
neers and  conductors.  The  city  of  two 
millions  was  without  a  single  street  car 
running  in  those  busiest  days  in  the  entire 
year  to  accommodate  the  business  and  so- 
cial life  of  the  people.  The  entire  city  was 
tied  up  and  everybody,  except  perhaps 
working  men,  felt  a  great  inconvenience 
and  suffered  very  much.  Strikers  con- 
ducted themselves  with  precision  and 
firmness,  temporarily  organizing  them- 
selves to  deal  with  the  employer.  They 
got  what  they  were  after,  and  squeezed 
out  of  the  pockets  of  the  old  Street  Car 
company  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  as 
a  bonus.  This  was  the  greatest  sort  of 
victory  for  labor. 

Those  who  were  in  close  touch  with  the 
strikers  were  more  than  pleased  with  the 
result.  As  soon  as  the  strike  was  settled 


144        THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

the  authorities  arrested  one  after  another 
of  the  strike  leaders ;  in  all,  sixty  persons. 
On  the  15th  of  January,  1912,  five  of  us 
were  arrested  and  brought  to  the  Tokyo 
local  court  and  were  examined  and  sent  to 
prison  on  the  charge  of  inciting  workers 
to  strike.  Later  three  of  us  were  tried 
and  condemned  to  prison  and  we  remained 
in  prison  for  nine  months.  This  was  a 
blow  to  our  movement.  Although  Com- 
rade Fujita  has  continued  the  work,  it  has 
never  recovered  its  former  vigor  and 
strength. 

Now  our  socialists  are  still  undergoing 
severe  treatment  by  the  brutal  govern- 
ment. They  occasionally  revolt  or  attempt 
to  throw  off  the  pressure  of  the  barbarous 
bureaucrats.  The  Eed  Flag  Riot  and  the 
Anarchist  Trials  were  the  results  of  suf- 
ferings. Under  the  influence  of  oppres- 
sions, the  comrades  more  and  more  forgot 
the  past  conflicts  among  themselves  and 
divisions  on  tactics.  A  better  understand- 
ing was  brought  about  by  the  street  car 


THE  MARXIAN  SOCIALIST  GEOUP          145 

strike  in  which  those  comrades  who  were 
considered  moderate  and  tame,  caused  by 
their  agitation  a  great  strike  that  shocked 
bourgeois  society.  There  is  only  one 
group  of  socialists  now  and  all  are  trying 
to  work  for  the  same  cause. 

PRESENT  AND  FUTURE  OF  THE  LABOR  AND 
SOCIALIST    MOVEMENT 

The  Red  Flag  affair  of  1908  made  so- 
cialists the  most  unpopular  creatures  with 
the  public,  and  this  unpopularity  gave  the 
authorities  a  good  pretext  for  suppress- 
ing the  socialist  movement.  Then  the  court 
brought  about  the  Anarchist  Trials  and 
the  condemnation  of  our  comrades  caused 
the  nation  to  doubt  the  wisdom  of  dealing 
in  such  a  fashion  and  voices  were  heard 
objecting  to  this  as  "too  harsh."  But 
when  the  Street  Car  strike  occurred  Tokyo 
people  felt  extreme  inconvenience  because 
it  was  the  busiest  time  of  the  year.  As 
socialists  were  proved  in  court  to  be  strike 
leaders,  the  people  said  that  socialists 


146        THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  JAPAN 

were  not  only  terrorists  who  intend  to 
overturn  society  in  some  future  time,  but 
also  inciters  of  peaceful  workers  to  mu- 
tiny. So  now  every  evil  deed  is  attributed 
to  socialists,  and  socialists  are  not  very 
popular  people  in  Japan. 

A  robber  at  Yamanashi  prison  commit- 
ted suicide  because  he  was  insulted  by  his 
mate.  The  insult  was  in  being  called  a 
socialist.  A  Tokyo  daily,  commenting  on 
the  case,  points  out  that  the  robber  con- 
vict in  prison  considers  himself  above  a 
socialist,  feels  himself  insulted  because  he 
was  called  by  that  title!  Socialists  are 
the  most  hated  and  despised  people  in 
Japan,  as  well  as  in  this  country  among 
Japanese.  Last  autumn  a  daily  (Japan- 
ese) at  Seattle  printed  a  statement  that 
Mr.  M.  Furuya,  a  prominent  Japanese 
merchant  in  that  city,  was  an  accomplice 
of  F.  Ota,  a  socialist  illegally  deported  by 
the  Japanese  Consul  there.  This  bit  of  a 
lie  caused  that  gentleman  to  lose  deposits 
from  his  bank  amounting  to  some  hundred 


THE  MARXIAN  SOCIALIST  GROUP          147 

and  sixty  thousand  dollars.  The  Japanese 
settlers  thought  it  unsafe  to  deposit  their 
money  in  a  Socialist's  bank,  so  they  took 
out  their  money  in  a  few  days.  It  shows 
how  our  government  fostered  hatred 
against  socialists. 

Will  this  state  of  affairs  continue  long! 

I  for  one  do  not  think  it  will  continue 
much  longer.  There  is,  of  course,  no  de- 
nying that  of  late  our  bureaucracy  is 
growing  more  and  more  reactionary.  It 
monopolizes  the  army  and  the  navy  and 
is  taxing  the  people  to  the  limit  for  the 
increase  of  armaments.  This  is  not  en- 
couraging, but  we  have  the  consolation  of 
looking  into  our  history.  Japan's  history 
shows  that  her  progress  in  the  past  was 
always  made  by  means  of  revolutions. 
The  coming  revolution  will  be  the  prole- 
tarian revolution.  The  workers  will  throw 
off  the  capitalist  yoke  by  a  new  revolution 
of  the  masses  against  their  exploiters. 


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RETURNED 

OCT  0  1  2001 

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